ALBANY, N.Y. – For the first time since the 2017 season, University at Albany alumna Grace Claxton has qualified for the World Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
 
Claxton, who runs professionally for Puerto Rico, previously competed in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil, advancing to the semifinal round and placing 14th overall.  A year later, Claxon advanced to the semifinal round of the World Outdoor Championships in London, placing 16th overall.
 
Claxton qualified by hitting the World Championship Standard in her event, the 400m intermediate hurdles, with a personal-best time of 55.25 in a race in Madrid, Spain, on June 18.  This season, Claxton has set a new personal-best three times, first in May in Spain, 55.66, then in Switzerland in June, 55.54, and finally, most recently, with her 55.25 in Spain.
 
The 2022 World Outdoor Championships will take place at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, on the campus of the University of Oregon.  The Championships start July 15 and run through July 24.  The women's 400m hurdles begins with the first round on July 19.