After running a collegiate-best 5,000m of 15:11.13, the Stanford junior is poised for a national title run in Eugene next month.

On May 4 at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, Stanford junior Aisling Cuffe ran 15:11.13 on her home track to finish sixth in the women’s 5,000m in a deep mixed field of seasoned professionals and top collegians. The mark, a 42-second personal best for Cuffe (whose first name is pronounced “Ash-ling”), easily eclipsed Lauren Fleshman’s 2003 school record of 15:20.44 and vaulted Cuffe ahead of Texas’s Marielle Hall to assume the top spot on the 2014 NCAA descending order list.

No stranger to big-time performances or to breaking records of established stars, Cuffe was a seven-time state champion and two-time Foot Locker cross country champion at Cornwall Central High School in New Windsor, New York.