Sophomore Michaela Courtney entered the NCAA indoor track and field championships with high spirits, but walked away with frustration after finishing ninth in the first of two qualifying heats in the mile run.

"I had the worst race of the year there," Courtney said. "I ran horrible. I don't like to make excuses. I just had a bad day."

Courtney clocked in at 4:54.26 and did not advance to finals. The first three runners in each heat, along with the next four fastest times, qualified for finals.

"The hardest thing was that she didn't have the rest of the team there," said head coach David Uhrich. "The big thing about Nationals is that the level of competition is the highest of the season, and it makes a big difference when it is just you and no one else."

The meet took place on March 9 at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas.

"Just to be at Nationals was great," Uhrich said. "It didn't go as well as we had hoped, but the big thing was that she learned a lot. Hopefully, she will use what she learned in the Indoor Nationals to get to the Outdoor Nationals and do better."