University of Montana sophomore Katrina Drennen will race on the nation’s biggest collegiate track and field stage this week when she competes at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. Drennen will open her week with the 1,500-meter semifinals Thursday at 6 p.m. (MT).

The two-heat semifinals, each of which will have 12 athletes, will produce 12 athletes for the final. That race will be held Saturday at 11:18 a.m. (MT). The top five runners from each of Thursday’s two heats, plus the next two fastest times, will advance to Saturday.

Drennen qualified for the national meet when she placed fourth in her national quarterfinal heat at the NCAA West Region preliminary round in Austin, Texas, two weekends ago. She ran a 4:23.88 in the opening round in Austin, then ran a personal-best and school-record 4:19.36 in the quarterfinals to advance to Eugene.

“My plan is to stay out of trouble and stay relaxed and keep engaged with what’s happening,” Drennen said Tuesday from Eugene. “It would be ideal to stay inside (on the rail) so I don’t need to run more than I need to, but I’ll just have to find the best place to race I can.”

Drennen will race in the second of Thursday’s two heats. Her 4:19.36 seed time from the regional round ranks ninth out of the 12 athletes competing in her heat.

The fastest seed time in the second heat belongs to Villanova sophomore Sheila Reid, who ran a 4:17.68 at the NCAA East Region preliminary round in Greensboro, N.C., two weekends ago.

The heat’s slowest seed time is 4:20.40.

“Katrina will need to be aware of where she is within the field,” UM distance coach Courtney Babcock, an eight-time all-American while racing for Michigan in the mid 90s, said. “She needs to be in the right place and not get boxed in so she is in a good position for the final 300 meters.

“Once you get to nationals, it’s not about previous times or regional finishes because everyone’s at the same level. It’s just about the race at hand, and Katrina can compete with anyone.”

Drennen opened the 2010 outdoor season with an eye on a repeat regional qualification in the 5,000 meters, and her career-best 16:46.37 at the UCLA Invitational in early April in that event had her ranked 27th in the West Region at the time.

But a week later she ran an altitude-adjusted 4:21.10 in the 1,500 meters at the Montana Open. That mark ranked in the West Region’s top 15 the rest of the spring.

“It’s a bit unusual (to see someone excel at both the 1,500 and 5,000 meters) but not surprising in Katrina’s case because her range is so great,” Babcock said. “We started working more on her speed this year. I didn’t think it would come around this quickly, but it has.

“Her high-mileage background (as a 5,000-meter runner) really helped her out at regionals. She was able to come back strong 48 hours after the first round of the 1,500, more so than the 800-meter runners who move up to the 1,500.”

In the handful of days between racing in Austin and making Tuesday’s trip to Eugene, Babcock has had Drennen remaining sharp for her national appearance with workouts focusing on speed work, followed by plenty of rest.

“You’re not really going to get any fitter at this time of year, so we’re doing some things at race pace or faster,” Babcock said. “We’re getting the high mileage out of her legs so she’s peaking at just the right time.

“We’ve also been training a lot in spikes to get the confidence that comes from feeling that type of speed. That’s not something we do very often.”

Drennen’s appearance in Eugene puts an impressive cap on a breakout year.

She placed third last October at the Big Sky Conference cross country championships, then advanced to nationals for the first time with her 17th-place showing at the NCAA Mountain Region championships. Drennen placed 174th at the NCAA championships in November.

Drennen won her first Big Sky Conference individual title at February’s indoor championships, taking the 3,000 meters. She also added a third-place finish in the 5,000 meters.

She posted runner-up finishes in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters at last month’s Big Sky outdoor championships.

“Katrina knows she can run with anyone in the country,” Babcock said. “I’ve seen that out of her all year.

“Making cross country nationals certainly helped with that. Then during the outdoor season her confidence took another step up. Last year at regionals she thought she could make nationals. This year she knew it.”

“Courtney and I talked at the beginning of the year about getting to the national championships in both cross country and outdoor, and now I’ve done that. So this is definitely what I pictured,” Drennen added.

“I want to go into Thursday’s race and give it everything I have. Just getting here has been a great accomplishment, so as long as I try my hardest Thursday, that’s all I can ask for.”

Unlike those athletes who are ending their final season of eligibility with their first career showing at the national level, Drennen made it in just her second outdoor season.

She’ll be a senior in the fall during cross country, then have one indoor season and two outdoor seasons of eligibility remaining.

“I feel like I’m building momentum for the next couple of years,” she said. “These are all small steps as part of the plan to have the best possible career.”