Cal State Fullerton graduate Samantha Huerta, a three-time Big West Conference individual champion and two-time qualifier in the 800 meters at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss preparation for her final collegiate competition at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Huerta, scheduled to compete June 10 in the semifinals, reflects on being one of eight female competitors to return from the 2019 championship meet in Austin, Texas, along with first-team All-Americans Avi'Tal Wilson-Perteete of UNLV, Kristie Schoffield of Boise State and Anna Camp-Bennett of Brigham Young, along with returning qualifiers Amber Tanner of Georgia, Kayla Johnson of Miami (Florida), Gabrielle Wilkinson of Florida and Aaliyah Miller of Baylor, now the reigning Division 1 indoor 800 champion. Huerta revisits her experience of dealing with illness two years ago in Austin, and placing 14th overall in 2:04.90. She also examines running a season-best 2:04.94 at the West Regionals in College Station, Texas, and dealing with thunderstorms and lightning May 28 that caused all the men's track races to be pushed to the final day of the schedule and preceding the women's competition. Huerta, who a ran a personal-best 2:03.96 at the 2019 West Regionals in Sacramento, shares her appreciation for the opportunity to compete at Hayward Field, along with Big West Conference counterpart Astrid Rosvall of UC Santa Barbara. She shares the challenges of overcoming a hamstring injury and strep throat earlier in the year, and how she recovered from the latter to run a personal-best 4:18.20 in the 1,500 meters in the same week at the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific University. Huerta explains how significant it is for her to earn her undergraduate degree at Cal State Fullerton, becoming the first in her family to do so, and to become only the second female track athlete in program history to qualify for the same event at the Division 1 outdoor final twice, joining Ciara Short in the 400 in 2010-11, as she finished 10th and fifth in her two appearances.