WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Bentley University graduate student Amy Varsell (Burlington, Conn./Lewis S. Mills HS) closed out her collegiate career in style Saturday afternoon as she earned her seventh career All-America award by placing fourth in the mile at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track Championships at the JDL Track.

Varsell moved up as the race progressed and finished in 4:55.36, missing out on a top three finish by about 2.3 seconds. Freshman Samantha Rivard of Minnesota-Duluth claimed the national championship, winning by 1.03 seconds with a time of 4:50.31.

"The goal for Amy this season was to have her best finish at NCAAs and after her 4:53 at the BU Terrier Classic, she was on track," said coach Kevin Curtin. "However, she injured her hamstring the week after that and the last six weeks have been a balancing act between trying to get her hamstring healthy while keeping her fitness up.

"Amy has always had the ability to elevate her game and this weekend just proved that", continued Curtin. "She ran both races with patience and poise but it was obvious in the finals that her stride wasn't there. She has run a handful of races that were faster than this but this is definitely the toughest that she's raced. While it's not what we hoped for in January, Amy certainly ended her career with a race she can look back on with pride."

It was the sixth time that Varsell has placed at the nationals. She was third in the indoor 800 in 2012, fourth in both the indoor and outdoor 800 in 2011, fifth in the 800 outdoors in 2012 and seventh in the 1500 last May outdoors.