LU qualifies 30 entries for Division II Championships

Twenty-four Lincoln athletes have been selected to compete in the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships later this month.

The Lincoln men's and women's track and field teams combined to qualify 30 entries to the meet, which will be hosted in Allendale, Mich., by Grand Valley State University from May 22-24.

The Lincoln women, ranked No. 1 in the country according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, will send 15 athletes to Allendale to compete in 17 individual races and two relays.

Yanique Ellington, Janae Johnson and Tamara Keane will represent the Blue Tigers in three events. Ellington and Johnson will each compete in the 100- and 200-meter dash and will also be part of the 4x100-meter relay team. Keane is slated to race in the 400-meter dash, 400-meter hurdles and will be a member of the 4x400-meter relay team.

Juneille Barker and Ladonna Richards will both compete in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles, while Donna-Lee Hylton and Willomena Williams are set to run the open 400 and compete as members on the 4x400-meter relay team.

Jhevere Hall and Monique Thompson will both run the 800, while Shakeisha Miller will compete in the 100-meter hurdles. Kimberly Bailey will be a member of the 4x100-meter relay team, while Marcia Harrison will join the 4x400-meter relay squad.

Nickeisha Beaumont will represent Lincoln in the long jump, while Daniele Newman will compete for the Blue Tigers in the triple jump.

Romel Lewis and Romone Hill will lead the Lincoln men with three entries apiece.

Both athletes entered the 100 and 4x100-meter relay, while Lewis will compete in the 400-meter hurdles and Hill will run in the 200.

Michael Ashley and Roger Blake will both run the open 400 and will be part of the 4x400-meter relay team. Jermaine Blake, also a member of the 4x400-meter relay team, will compete in the 800.

Wesley Best will run the 200 and will be part of the 4x100-meter relay team to help lead the Blue Tigers, who are ranked No. 6 in the country by the USTFCCCA.

Orneldo Thomas will compete in the long jump, while Khorey Spalding will round out Lincoln's 4x100-meter relay team and Winston Edwards will be the fourth member of the 4x400-meter relay team.

All of the national-bound athletes also earned all-region honors, the USTFCCCA announced Monday.

Those who earned all-region honors but did not advance to nationals include Stallone Watson (110-meter hurdles and long jump) and Owen Smith (triple jump).

III

Thompson and teammate Jonelle Campbell earned recognition Tuesday as recipients of the MIAA's Scholar-Athlete Award.

Additionally, a total of 14 athletes from the women's track and field team, men's track and field and cross country teams were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.

Campbell, a jumper on Lincoln's indoor and outdoor track and field teams, is a biology major from Mount Kisco, N.Y., who owns a 3.732 GPA. Thompson, who competed in cross county, along with indoor and outdoor track and field, has a 3.519 GPA.

Both athletes also posted top-three finishes at the MIAA Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships to qualify for the league's scholar-athlete award.

Six other Blue Tiger women were honored by the MIAA for their academic performance, including Barker, Keane, Ellington, Palmer, Harrison and Newman.

The Lincoln men had six honorees.

Best, a sophomore wellness major from Ontario, Canada, led the way for the Blue Tigers with a 3.4 GPA. Other members include Ashley, Jermaine Blake, Neville Daley, Spalding and Christian Thompson.

Northwest Missouri State junior David Nilges was also selected to the MIAA academic honor roll. Nilges (Linn High School) has a 3.59 GPA.

III

The Lincoln women continue to be ranked No. 1 in the country, while the men remain at No. 6 in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's final regular season NCAA Division II national rankings released Tuesday.

Lincoln, which took over the nation's top ranking last week on the women's side, barely edged Grand Valley State for the No. 1 ranking. The Blue Tigers finished the regular season with 220.73 points, while Grand Valley State, which is hosting the Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, is close behind with 219.97.

Adams State is the No. 3 team with 191.45. Johnson C. Smith is fourth with 151.38, while Ashland is fifth with 147.94.

The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association leads all conferences with 634.50 points and is tied with the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference with the most ranked teams with four. In addition to Lincoln, the MIAA has Central Missouri ranked No. 6 with 134.00, Pittsburg State at No. 11 with 78.95 and Missouri Southern at No. 20 with 52.74.

The Lincoln men tallied 118 points to earn the No. 6 spot.

Saint Augustine's continues to hold a firm lead, owning the No. 1 position with 326.98, nearly 100 more than No. 2 Adams State, which tallied 228.04. Rounding out the top-five are No. 3 Ashland (191.59), No. 4 Texas A&M-Kingsville (182.92) and No. 5 Chico State (123.61).

Lincoln is one of four MIAA programs ranked this week, once again tying the league with the GLIAC for the most-ranked teams from one conference. The others from the MIAA are Pittsburg State at No. 8 with 97.83, Central Missouri at No. 11 with 77.10 and Emporia State at No. 25 with 41.52.