Eugene, OR—UC Riverside three-time All-American Brenda Martinez placed third in the 1,500m finals at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Sunday, to advance to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. Her time was 4:06.16, just .03 hundredths of a second ahead of the fourth place finisher (watch video/view results).

The entire field ran together for the first 600m when the leaders began to separate themselves from the pack. At that point, Martinez was in sixth place, needing a top three finish to secure her spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. She was still in fifth with 100m remaining, but used her trademark kick to move into third with 50m to go.

Amanda Eccleston was closing on her right hip as they raced for the finish, and both runners collapsed as they dove for the tape in a photo finish.

Read NBCOlympics.com's coverage of the race and watch additional video from immediately after the race's conclusion.

The 2016 Olympic Games run from August 3-21, with Track & Field events beginning Friday, August 12.