Former UALR cross country and track and field athlete and two-time Little Rock Marathon winner Leah Thorvilson recorded an Olympic Trial qualifying time of 2:41:52 and won the Fargo Marathon Saturday in Fargo, N.D.

Thorvilson graduated from UALR in 2003 and is a member of the Trojan Lettermen’s Association Board.

“It was definitely a big monkey off my back,” she said. “I missed qualifying by 17 seconds last fall and by much larger margins at Little Rock this year and in Pittsburgh three weeks ago. I had a real mental block with being able to hit the mark but everything just finally came together Saturday.”

Thorvilson defeated second place by almost seven minutes and placed eighth out of 1,884 athletes overall among men and women competitors. Her time places her in the Top 15 performances in the United States so far this year.

“I had lots of friends there to celebrate with me, and the local support in Fargo for all the marathon participants was really great too,” she said. “It will definitely go down as one of the high points of my racing career so far.”

The A standard to be funded to go to the trials is 2:39, while the B standard to allow a runner to compete in the trials is 2:46.

The 2012 Olympic Trials for the marathon will be held in Houston on Jan. 14, 2012. The top three athletes will compete at the 2012 Olympics held in London.