TWO FERRIS TRACK ATHLETES HEADED TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Bulldog Runners Will Compete at NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships in Texas

The final meet participants were announced May 12 by the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee. A total of 620 student-athletes qualified for the meet by reaching the automatic or provisional standards established for each event. Angelo State University will serve as host of the championships with the track and field action taking place at the LeGrand Sports Complex. The top eight finishers in each event will earn All-America recognition.

Ferris senior Mikinzie Stuart will compete in the NCAA-II Outdoor Championships next week in Texas (Photo Courtesy Sandy Gholston)

Stuart will open action for Ferris State on Thursday (May 21) at 5:40 p.m. (CDT) as she takes part in qualifying heats in the women's 1,500 meters. Her seed time of 4:26.53 is the fourth-fastest among the 17 runners who will compete at the national meet. The top performers from the qualifying round will advance to Saturday's (May 23) final, which begins at 6:05 p.m. (CDT).

Muir holds the seventh-best (16:55.22) overall time of 20 individuals who will take part in the women's 5,000 meters. The prelims are set for Friday (May 22) at 8:15 p.m. (CDT) with the finals for those who advance on Saturday at 8:43 p.m. (CDT).

It will mark both Stuart's and Muir's initial appearances at the national outdoor track and field championships. Both competitors previously competed at this year's NCAA-II Indoor Track and Field Championships (March 13-14) in Houston, Texas, where Stuart earned All-America honors by placing seventh for the Bulldogs in the women's one mile run (4:58.59). Muir, who finished 12th overall in the women's 5,000 meters (17:28.90) at the indoor nationals, previously claimed All-America honors last fall by finishing 12th overall at the NCAA-II National Cross Country Championships held in Slippery Rock, Pa. Stuart also earned indoor All-America accolades in 2006 as a member of FSU's record-setting distance medley relay team.

Muir won the 5,000 meters (16:56.48) recently at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Outdoor Championships (April 30-May 1) while setting a new GLIAC meet record and surpassing the national automatic qualification mark in the event. Start received runner-up honors in the 1,500 meters (4:34.89) at the league meet.

Earlier this year, Muir was the conference indoor champion in two events as she won both the 3,000 meters (9:59.32) and the 5,000 meters (16:58.38). Stuart won the mile run (4:57.94) at the conference indoor meet and ran on FSU’s distance medley relay team that placed second (12:10.01) overall.