Drake: Drake junior Ari Curtis (Fort Collins, Colo.) finished sixth overall in the semifinal round of the women's 400 hurdles at the NCAA West Regional Friday night to advance to next weekend's NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Curtis used a school-record performance with a 57.98 second clocking to become the first Drake woman to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships since Gina DeWitt finished fifth in the finals of the 800-meter in 1996.

Twenty-four athletes competed in three semifinal heats with the top 12 overall fastest times advancing to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Curtis led through the first nine hurdles in her second heat before finishing second.

It marked the fourth time Curtis has lowered the school record in the 400 hurdles this spring. This time around she bettered her previous school mark of 58.27 set at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship May 14.

Illinois State: Another day of competition produced another NCAA qualifier for the Illinois State track and field team, as freshman Brittany Smith earned a spot in the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., with a sixth-place finish in the discus at the NCAA West Region Preliminary Round, Friday, at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

The Oak Park, Ill., native recorded a throw of 169 feet to place sixth overall in the field of 48 participants to earn a berth into the national championships, June 9-12. Smith just missed advancing in the shot put competition Thursday by placing 13th, with the top 12 competitors in each event moving on, but still has a chance to compete in two events at the nationals with a strong performance Saturday in the hammer throw.

Smith joins fellow freshman Tim Glover as Redbird qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. Head coach Elvis Forde has been impressed with Smith's performances throughout the weekend and believes the future is bright for his talented young thrower.

In other action on the women's side, juniors Meaka Brents and Tia Harvey both competed in the 200-meter dash. Brents placed 37th with a time of 24.68 seconds and Harvey was close behind in 40th place in a time of 24.76 seconds. Sophomore Aisha Praught finished out a strong showing at the regional with a time of 10:51.41 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to place 32nd after competing in the 1,500-meter run Thursday.

On the men's side, junior Jon Roberts placed 47th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:37.47 and junior Drew Holl missed on his three attempts in the high jump and did not record a height. Smith and junior Amanda Albrecht will kick of Saturday's action for the Redbirds in the field in the hammer throw and high jump, respectively, before the team of Sade Sealy, Alia McAfee, Harvey and Brents compete in the 4x100-meter relay.

Indiana State: Indiana State seniors Kylie Hutson and Erica Moore along with junior Major Clay will have their outdoor track & field seasons continued for another couple of weeks after each qualified to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on the second day of the East Preliminary Round on Friday.

Moore, who had the fourth fastest time in the 400 meter hurdles coming out of the preliminary round on Thursday at 57.18, ran even faster Friday as she was timed in 56.58 which is just off her school record time of 56.21.

Hutson needed just one vault to settle any debate about whether she could come back from a hand injury she suffered at the Billy Hayes Invitational earlier this month. The Sycamore senior easily cleared 13' 1.5" (4.00 meters) and that was the only jump she would have to make in order to advance to the 2010 National Championship in defense of her 2009 title.

Clay had to clear three bars before punching his ticket to the NCAA Championship finals. The junior cleared 7' 1" (2.16 meters) on his second attempt which earned him a berth in the Eugene, Ore., finals.

Hanley finished 22nd in the women's hammer throw with a distance of 178' 3' (54.33 meters) which was just a couple feet short of earning her a spot in the 16 person final and a chance to make the top 12 which advance to the national championship.

Pounds placed 19th in the men's shot put with a throw of 57' 3.5" (17.46) which, like Hanley in the Hammer Throw, was just a few feet shy of earning him a spot in the 16 personal final.

Also in competition today was freshman Richelle Kimble who made her first appearance in post-season action in the women's pole vault. Kimble had three good attempts at the opening height of 11' 9.75" (3.60 meters) but could not clear the bar successfully.

Junior Michael Roberts competed in the 110 meter hurdle preliminaries and finished in 33 rd with a time of 14.37. 

Junior Michael Disher was scheduled to compete tonight in the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase but a deluge of rain forced postponement of that race until 9:30 a.m. (ET) Saturday.

Pounds returns to action at 9:30 a.m. (ET) Saturday for the men's discus with Hanley back for the women's discus at 3:30 p.m. (ET). Senior Lauren Martin competes in the women's triple jump at 4 p.m. (ET) with the women's 4x400 meter relay team of freshman Leeann Michl, Martin, freshman Stacia Weatherford, and Moore, competing at 9:45 p.m. (ET).

Missouri State: MVC champion Staci Nelson's 3,000-meter steeplechase time of 10:45.16 was good for 23rd, but the senior was unable to advance to the NCAA Championships, as her season ended at Friday's NCAA West Preliminary Round in Austin, Texas.

Silje Fjortoft of Southern Methodist had the fastest time at 10:08.20, while the 12th place runner, and final NCAA Championships qualifier, ran a 10:23.40. Nelson outran her pre-meet 31st seeding in the 48-runner field.

The end of the road for Nelson did nothing to diminish her stellar senior season with the Bears. Nelson leaves MSU as the fourth all-time steeplechaser (10:35.43 at the Drake relays), and she won the steeplechase title at this season's MVC Outdoor Championships (10:41.96). She garnered all-MVC recognition during the indoor season by finishing third in the 3,000-meter run (9:42.83) at the conference meet, a time that made her MSU's fourth all-time performer in the event. The conference also named her to its Scholar-Athlete Team.

Nelson's teammate Kimsue Grant will compete in Saturday's triple jump, as she becomes only the sixth Bear freshman to qualify for the preliminaries since the NCAA instituted regional meets in 2003. She is the first triple jumper to qualify since Donavette Martin in 2005.  

UNI: University of Northern Iowa junior Holli Hosch shattered her own school record in the 800 meter run by over one second on Friday evening at the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships West Preliminary Rounds. The performance earned her an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 9-12.

Hosch clocked in at 2:05.47, over a full second better than her previous school-record time of 2:06.84 set at the Musco Invitational in Iowa City on May 1. She now leads the UNI all-time best list in the 800 meters by nearly three seconds.

Hosch became the second Panther to earn an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Championships in Eugene, joining Olimpia Nowak who had previously locked up a spot in the heptathlon.

UNI received solid performances across the board in the pole vault, as all three men competing posted a minimum of a season-best jump. Sophomore Daniel Gooris vaulted to a new lifetime-best of 5.25 meters (17' 2.75") and took 14th place. Fellow sophomore Sam Kranz also cleared 5.25 meters (17' 2.75") for a new outdoor personal-best mark and 16th place overall.

Senior Mike Beese cleared a season-best 5.10 meters (16' 8.75") and took 22nd place.

The top 12 finishers qualified for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. Gooris and Kranz fell just short based on the number of misses at previous heights. 

Sophomore Giorgio Giurdanella also made his NCAA Championships debut, running 21.50 in the first round of the 200 meter dash for 32nd place overall.

Saturday will be the final day of competition at the West Preliminary Rounds. UNI will be represented by Jordan Williams and Allen Weeks in the discus, Courtney Landers in the hammer throw and the 4x400-meter relay quartet of Ellen Kindelsperger, Michaela Brungardt, Sam Cameron and Holli Hosch.

Southern Ilinois: Southern Illinois track and field athletes Cody Doerflein, J.C. Lambert and Jeneva McCall advanced to the NCAA National Championships after finishing in the top-12 in their respective events on the second day of the West Regional Meet Friday.

Jeneva McCall threw in the women's discus 178' 3" (54.33m) to advance to nationals in her second event after finishing fifth in the shot put on Thursday. Teammates Rickael Roach (157' 5"; 47.99m) and Sasha Leeth (146' 5"; 44.63m) finished 20th and 34th respectively.

Sophomore Cody Doerflein advanced to nationals for the first time in his career finishing eighth in the pole vault clearing 17' 4.5" (5.30m).

J.C. Lambert was the final Saluki to advance to nationals Friday, taking 10th in the men's hammer with a toss of 207' 5" (63.22m). Teammates Joe Paradiso (194' 10"; 59.40m), Ryan Shumaker (180' 2"; 54.93m) and Collin Otto (174' 5"; 53.16m) finished 20th, 38th and 43rd respectively.

In the women's 100-meter hurdles, Meredith Hayes finished 18th in 13.73 advancing to the quarterfinal round Saturday.

Brandon Deloney also advanced to Saturday quarterfinals after finishing 24th in the 200-meter dash in 21.29.

In the quarter final rounds Friday, Kandise Thompson finished 22nd in the 400-meter dash in 54.68. Kendra Deck finished 14th in the 400-meter hurdles in a school-record 58.61 bettering her own school record set two weeks ago at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships. Teammate Tredene Davis recorded a career-best 59.33 finishing 18th. The top-12 finishers advanced to nationals.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Jason Ordway finished 30th in 9:08.09 for the men and Megan Hoelscher took 46th in 11:20.23 on the women's side.

Wichita State: Todd McKown qualified for the quarterfinal round of the men's 110-meter hurdles as the Wichita State University track & field team was in action during day two of the 2010 NCAA West Preliminary meet on Friday, May 28.

McKown ran a 14.26 to place 16th in the race.  The top 24 advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday with half of that number then moving on to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., beginning on June 8.

Audacia Moore, who had qualified for the quarterfinal round of the 100-meter dash on Thursday, ran an 11.94 during the second round of competition that placed her on the outside of qualifying for Eugene.

Senior all-conference decathlete, Chris Dickman, was 36th in the men's 200-meter dash as he crossed the line in a time of 21.57.  Moore was also 36th in the women's 200-meter dash (24.56).

Marius Sava became the third Shocker with the unlucky number of 36.  Sava finished 24 spots out of the qualifying mark of 12 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, clocking in with a time of 9:11.15.

Brandon Childs, an all-conference performer in the men's high jump, was 20th in today's competition as the Emporia, Kan., native cleared 6' 9".  Megan Fuller, competing in her first NCAA post-season competition, reached a distance of 140' 1" in the women's discus.

The third and final day of the 2010 NCAA West Preliminary will begin at 12 p.m., with the men's discus.