South Dakota State junior Rachel King is a proven winner.

And now she’s potentially 10 minutes away from being an All-American.

The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships begin Wednesday at legendary Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., and King is one of 24 qualifiers in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.

King closed strong on Friday at the West Preliminary in Sacramento, Calif. to place third in her heat with a school-record and personal-best time of 9 minutes, 57.75 seconds. The top three finishers in each of the three heats plus the next three fastest times advanced to Eugene.

King was near the front of the pack early but spent a majority of the race in fourth place – outside the automatic qualifying spot.

“The girl in third started to fall off and I was like, okay, maybe I’m feeling a little better than she is so maybe I’ll be able to catch her,” she noted. “It wasn’t until the last lap of the race where she started to really fall and I started to go and then I passed her.”

In fact, King ended up just .05 seconds behind the second-place finisher in her flight.

“I kind of had some wiggle room, but it was nice to get that automatic qualifier place,” she added.

King had the 10th best time in the West Preliminary, and the 14th best overall, including those from the East Preliminary.

As for breaking the 10-minute mark for the first time, King responded: “I knew roughly 10 flat would be pretty safe. I obviously wanted to break it and try to get a PR, so I was happy to come out with the 9:57. The heat was super fast.”

Boise State’s Allie Ostrander won the West Preliminary and had the fastest time overall at 9:40.2.

“The biggest thing with the race was how she rallied,” said SDSU coach Rod DeHaven. “It looked pretty dim; with two laps to go she was maybe 4 or 5 seconds down on the third-place runner and then just had a miraculous last lap – 73 seconds. Typically she was averaging around 80.

“It was an amazing finish for her and really cool to see, especially being so close last fall and then having the disappointment of a broken foot. For her to get in is just a testament to her fortitude. …”

The semifinals are Thursday at 6:32 p.m. in Eugene, with the finals taking place on Saturday at 5:54 p.m.

“The goal is definitely to make it to that second race – if I get to that second race, I’ll be an All-American – and try to get to the podium (top eight).”

King competed in the preliminary for the third year in a row. She finished 38th in the steeplechase the previous two years, with a foot injury derailing her 2017 season.

DeHaven put together a plan this year to ensure King was fresh for the postseason, as she ran the steeplechase just three times in 2018.

“When we kind of set up the year, we thought that this wasn’t maybe a possibility; it was like ‘this is going to happen, we’re going to make the national meet,’” the Hall of Famer said. “… It’s really something we’ve seen coming for the last couple years. Last year she broke her foot in the latter part of April so the regionals were a disaster; and then in cross country she was within a few seconds of making the national meet.

“So it’s just something where she’s been highly motivated to try to get to that biggest stage and we just tried to make sure that we set things up so she was going to be ready go when the time came.”

King won the Summit League title in the steeplechase with a 10:21.41 clocking on May 11 in Tulsa, Okla., and was runner-up in the 1,500 meters a day later.

She was the Track Championship MVP indoors this season after winning the 3,000 and mile and taking second in the 5,000. She was also the Championship MVP in cross country in the fall, as she placed first in the event.

“She’s a tough competitor and she likes to win; she’s a competitive person,” DeHaven said.

Bill Powell photo: South Dakota State junior Rachel King, shown here during the Summit League Championships on May 11 in Tulsa, Okla., qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.