Hope College's Sheri McCormack will race for a national championship this weekend.

The senior from Holland, Michigan (West Ottawa HS), clocked a 1,500-meter run of 4 minutes, 34.26 seconds Thursday during the opening day of the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Delaware, Ohio.

McCormack recorded the preliminaries' second-fastest time and will race again on Saturday at 2 p.m. Eastern.

"I'm elated right now," McCormack said. "I've never been in a final before. I'm going to go all out Saturday."

Hope's Jane Pearson is 14th after the first day of the heptathlon. The sophomore from Lake City, Michigan (Northern Michigan Christian HS), has a score of 2,753 points.

McCormack finished second in her preliminary heat. She trailed Christy Cazzola of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, who edged her with a run of 4:33.97.

Haddie Vawter of Wartburg (Iowa) is seeded second after winning her heat in 4:36.53. The winners of each heat get the two top seeds.

Hope coach Kevin Cole said McCormack ran a really smart race.

"She knew what she was doing," Cole said. "She did what she had to do. Her goal is to be an All-American. She set herself up very well for that."

The top eight out of Saturday's 12 runners earn All-America status.

Added McCormack, "The last two years I was in the same heat with the exact same top seed. I knew what to expect. I knew how to handle the race strategy. I wasn't going to let the pack control the entire race."

Pearson completes the heptathlon on Friday beginning at 1 p.m. with the long jump, javelin and 800-meter run.

On Thursday, Pearson completed the 100-meter hurdles in 15.14 seconds, the high jump at 4 feet, 9 ½ inches, the shot put in 32 feet, 11 ¼ inches and 200 meters in 26.10 seconds.

Photo of Pearson by Mark Dannenhauer Photography