UNH alum Elle Purrier St. Pierre, shown three years ago, has reached the semis of the 1500-meter U.S. Olympic Trials in Euguene, Ore. (AP file photo)

EUGENE, Oreg. – Elle Purrier St. Pierre, a 2018 University of New Hampshire graduate and Class of 2024 Hall of Fame inductee, advanced out of Thursday’s 1,500 meter first round by winning Heat 3 at the track & field U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.

The semifinals are tonight at 8:53 p.m. EDT.

Purrier St. Pierre crossed the finish line with a time of 4 minutes, 6.41 seconds, which was the fastest time of all three heats. She moved forward in the pack from fifth place – only steps behind the leader – to third place on the outside shoulder of the leaders with one lap remaining, and then raced to the lead in the final 100m.

The top seven finishers in each of the three heats and the next three fastest times advanced to the semifinals.

“I’ve just been focusing on recovery the best I can,” Purrier St. Pierre said in a postrace interview on NBC. “I have a lot of family and friends that made the trip out so that definitely helps my mind and I’ve got a great team behind the scenes making my legs feel good.

“The 1,500 gets messy in the back. There’s a lot of people in the last 200 so I was just trying to be up in the top three.”

Purrier St. Pierre already qualified to compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris when she won the 5,000m with a U.S. Olympic Team Trials record time of 14:40.34 on June 24 to become a two-time Olympian.

She had advanced to the 5,000 final by winning Heat 1 last Friday (June 21) with the fastest overall time of 15:13.82 in the first round.

Purrier St. Pierre competed in the 1,500m at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Purrier St. Pierre is arguably the most accomplished student-athlete in UNH history. She is an 11-time All-American – including an NCAA national champion – and 17-time America East champion. She was voted UNH’s Jim Urquhart Student-Athlete of the Year in 2018.

Purrier St. Pierre won the national championship in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in March 2018 to become the first UNH track student-athlete and fourth America East track & field athlete to win a national title.

Purrier St. Pierre has been running professionally since graduating from UNH. She made the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team by winning the 1,500m finals at the track & field U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June 2021 with a time of 3:58.03 that broke a 33-year old record for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Purrier St. Pierre advanced from the first round and then semifinals to the 1,500m Olympic Finals, where she finished in 10th place.

Fast forward to 2024, where Purrier St. Pierre broke the American record for the women’s indoor mile (4:16.41) that had stood for more than 37 years and then won the women’s 3,000m run at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. It was her first global championship title and the first time a former Wildcat achieved this in the history of UNH athletics. Purrier St. Pierre also set both a North American and championship record with her winning time of 8:20.87.