UNH grad Elle Purrier St. Pierre finished sixth in the first heat of the women's 1,500 meter at the Summer Olympics Wednesday morning which earned her a place in Friday's final.

The former Wildcat finished at 4:00:01 which gets her into final which will be run at 8:50 a.m. EDT.

NBC's commentators noted Purrier St. Pierre's "growing confidence" as she ran for the second time during the Games. She ran a time of 4:05.34 in Round 1 on Sunday.

She told NBC Sports it was a "stressful 10 minutes" waiting out the 10 minutes between heats on Wednesday.

"I'm just so excited and it's just really emotional. I know I gave it my all on the track there, I left with everything on the track, I'm really proud of myself," Purrier St. Pierre told NBC.

Purrier St. Pierre said she made a "tactical mistake" by trying to go wide on the last lap and should have been more patient.

Earlier in the games diver Jess Parratto and diving partner Delaney Schnell made history by being the first U.S. pair to medal in women’s 10-meter platform synchronized diving ever.

The 26-year-old Vermont native who grew up on a dairy farm graduated from UNH in 2018. During commencement ceremonies, then-UNH President Mark Huddleston asked her to run up to the stage and told the crowd she was the most decorated athlete in UNH history.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH

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