WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Brissia Montalvo cemented her legacy and will sure to be considered a pioneer in the near future of the Midwestern State track & field and cross country programs.
 
The 5-6 senior from El Paso garnered All-South Central Region status from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association Tuesday. On top of that, she was accepted for the 17-member field of the 3,000-meter Steeplechase set at the NCAA Division II Championships at the ThunderBowl in Pueblo, Colo. from May 24-26.
 
Both are firsts for the Midwestern State program.
 
"This is awesome and well deserved," MSU coach Koby Styles said. "It's a pretty neat deal with the first year of the program and we're having this kind of success. That goes back to Brissia and how hard she has worked. She's busted her rear since she's been here. I'm luck she's on our team and I get to coach her."
 
Montalvo has set a high level of excellence since transferring from El Paso Community College prior to her junior season.
 
She became MSU's second cross country All American last fall after leading the Mustangs to a South Central Region championship and an 11th-place showing at nationals.
 
Montalvo is a two-time all-region performer in cross country while helping Midwestern to consecutive Lone Star Conference titles after earning the league's Runner of the Year accolade in 2011.
 
She continued her run at history on the oval this spring improving on her personal best in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase throughout the season including a gutsy 10:41.04 performance with an injured foot at the West Coast Invitational last weekend in Salem, Ore.
 
"In one race, she was able to take off 14 seconds off of her personal best," Styles said. "You throw her into one race and anything can happen. Brissia has also run at her best in the bigger races. She's a big time gamer and she always steps up."
 
Montalvo's top time set last weekend ranks 14th amongst the 17 qualifiers in the Steeplechase which will feature two preliminaries on Thursday, May 24 at 7:40 p.m. (Central Time) with the final following the next day at 8:15 p.m. (Central Time) all at an altitude of 4,662 feet.
 
"It's not going to be easy, but she's grown up all of her life in El Paso (3,762 feet) so she knows how to run and train and race at that altitude," Styles said. "You've got to run well and have a little luck, too.
 
"Qualifying for the national championship in track is the hardest thing to do in our sport."

NCAA Division II Championships

Colorado State-Pueblo
Neta and Eddie DeRose Thunderbowl
May 24-26, 2012

3,000-meter Steeplechase Qualifiers

Seed	Student-Athlete	Year	School	Seed Time
1	Betsy Graney	Sr.	Grand Valley State	9:53.85
2	Alicia Nelson	So.	Adams State	10:10.89
3	Susan Tanui	Jr.	Alaska-Anchorage	10:15.47
4	Kyle Blakeslee	Jr.	Augustana	10:18.71
5	Chloe Susset	Jr.	Abilene Christian	10:24.65
6	Jennifer Agnew	Jr.	Mary	10:25.71
7	Karie McDonald	Sr.	Grand Valley State	10:26.95
8	Sarah Lyle	Sr.	Western State	10:29.43
9	Brittany Poole	Jr.	Northwest Missouri	10:31.13
10	Hallidie Wilt	Sr.	Alaska-Anchorage	10:31.30
11	Hillory Davis	Sr.	Western State	10:31.37
12	Hanna Osborn	So.	Grand Valley State	10:32.09
13	Courtney Anderson	Jr.	Cal State-Stanislaus	10:32.83
14	Danielle Thompson	Sr.	Minnesota State-Moorhead	10:35.31
15	Brissia Montalvo	Sr.	Midwestern State	10:41.04
16	Corinne Fitzgerald	Jr.	East Stroudsburg	10:41.72
17	Amy Schnittger	Jr.	Chico State	10:42.65