Arkansas sprinter Shelise Williams‘ goal entering the NCAA Outdoor Championships was to qualify for the 400 finals.

The sophomore accomplished it here a few minutes ago.

Williams finished fourth in her heat to earn a spot in the final, which will take place tomorrow afternoon.

“It hurt to get there, but then again, it feels good,” Williams siad. “My first at nationals. So I’m excited.

“Words can’t describe how I feel right now. … underneath all the pain.”

Williams was hurting largely because she admitted to going out too fast in the race. She was competing in a heat that included sprinters Francena McCrory, Leslie Cole and Jessica Beard. So Williams said she really had no choice but to run fast.

It caught up to her down the homestretch, though. Williams had to grit out the last 80 yards and slipped across the finish line in fourth place with a time of 52.8o seconds.

“She had to really work,” Arkansas coach Lance Harter said. “I tell you, Shelise is unique because she’s just so tough. She has kind of that distance mentality where when you’ve got to dig deep, she can dig really deep. That’s what got her to the final.”

Good morning. Or make that good afternoon.

I spent a little more time than usual in bed this morning after being out at John McDonnell Field past 1 a.m. But after trying to get some sleep, I’m back out here for day two of the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

There’s a lot going on today. Ryan Malashock is in Omaha for the College World Series, where Arkansas will be practicing today and meeting with the media. Alex Abrams and I will be out here at track letting you know everything going on out here on day two.

Make sure you keep an eye on the blog for updates from both sides. We also have a special page set up for our track coverage here at at the NCAA meet. You can find it by clicking this link. And on our Twitter pages at @NWAOnlineHogs or @NWARobbie

We’ve got a few things worth reading in today’s paper if you haven’t seen them yet.

• Alex Abrams wrote a feature on Arkansas pitcher Dallas Keuchel and some of the struggles he has had lately.

• Paul Boyd handled our MLB Draft coverage. Four Razorbacks were selected on Wednesday.

We have plenty from track and field, too.

• On the men’s side, the Razorbacks got two of their three long jumpers into tonight’s final, Alex wrote. A little later, Scott MacPherson slipped through to the finals of the 3,000 steeplechase.

• The women’s team had to wait a long time to compete because of a three-hour rain delay. But once they did, Shelise Williams, pole vaulters Katie Stripling and Sarah Landau, and Denise Bargiachi advanced in their events.