ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Lauren Berg walked across the stage to accept her diploma as part of commencement exercises at the College of Saint Benedict this past Saturday (May 16).
 
But the senior hurdling standout's collegiate career isn't done just yet. There remains one more set of memories to make. That's because Berg has qualified for this week's NCAA Division III national outdoor track and field meet in the 400-meter hurdles, the culmination of a four-year quest for the biology major on a pre-med track.
 
"This is what I've been working so hard for every season I've been here," said Berg, a graduate of now both Bemidji High School and CSB, who has earned All-MIAC and all-conference honorable mention honors on 16 occasions across a variety of events during her time with the Bennies, but has never qualified for an indoor or outdoor national meet until now.
 
"I've come so close in the past, but I've never quite made it. So this means so much to me. It's the perfect way to bring my time here to a close," she said.
 
Berg earned the spot by breaking her own school record with a time of 1:01.49 to finish second in the 400 hurdles at the MIAC outdoor meet on May 9, at St. Olaf.
 
She enters the national meet – which is scheduled to run Thursday (May 21) through Saturday (May 23) at the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex in La Crosse, Wisconsin – seeded 18th in her event. The top 16 finishers at nationals earn All-American first and second-team distinction.
 
Preliminary competition in her event is scheduled for 5:10 p.m., Thursday with the finals to follow at 3:15 p.m., on Saturday.
 
"I couldn't be happier for Lauren," CSB head coach Robin Balder-Lanoue said. "She's worked for four years to get to this spot. It's something she's dreamed about since she was a first-year. She was so close last year and the year before. So for her to throw down a school record at the conference meet the way she did and assure herself a spot was such a thrill and a relief."
 
That performance was the start of a whirlwind last week for Berg, leading up to commencement in the Clemens Fieldhouse this past Saturday.
 
"It's definitely been an emotional time," she said. "There have been so many last times coming all at once. I just said goodbye to my roommates who moved out (Sunday afternoon). But it's so exciting to think I still get to compete one final time. I have one more chance to put on that jersey and run as a Bennie. As a senior, you can't ask for a better ending than this."
 
Berg, who one day hopes to pursue a career in rural medicine, will spend this summer once again working as part of an ambulance crew based out of Blackduck, a small community near her home in Bemidji.
 
Then, in September, she departs for Tanzania, where she will spend seven months volunteering – hopefully in a clinical setting.
 
"I was lucky enough to find a place that will host me," she said. "I wanted to take some time to grow as a person and see a completely different way of life, especially as someone who is planning to go into healthcare. I think it will be really beneficial to see and work in a system different from the one we have here.
 
"I've seen so many other people here at CSB take a chance and go on to do scary and adventurous things," said Berg. "It felt like this was the perfect time for me to step out on a limb and take a chance myself."
 
First, though, she has one more competition left in front of her.
 
"Getting here was the goal," she said. "Whatever happens next is a bonus. I want to make sure I soak up the whole experience of being at nationals. This is the last time I get to compete as a Bennie and my goal is to walk away knowing I put everything I had out on the track."