The Lincoln men's and women's track and field teams will send a total of 17 athletes to the NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championships, which will be held May 24-26 in Charlotte, N.C.
In the Division II national rankings, which were released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the Lincoln women are ranked No. 1 in the nation, while the men enter the national championships at No. 10.
The Lincoln women qualified eight athletes for the national championships in eight events.
Diana Cauldwell and Christine Moss lead the Blue Tigers, each qualifying for four events.
Cauldwell enters the national championships with the No. 1 mark in the long jump (20 feet, 9.75 inches) and the No. 3 mark in the triple jump (42-1.25), and she will run in the 100-meter dash to wrap up her individual events.
Moss qualified in the 200- and 400-meter dashes, seeded in the top-six in both events. She will also run the 4x400-meter relay with Renea Ambersley, Shanice Clarke and Segala Brown, who have posted the second-fastest time this season in 3:38.83.
Cauldwell and Moss are both on the Blue Tigers' 4x100-meter relay, along with Rene Medley and Shaian Vandenburg. They posted the fastest time in Division II this season at 45.58 seconds.
Medley also qualified for the national championships in two individual events. She enters as the No. 1 seed in the 200 (23.25 seconds) and as the No. 2 seed in the 100 (11.33 seconds).
Ambersley has the second-fastest time this season in the 400 at 53.70 seconds heading into the national championships.
Other qualifiers on the women's side for the Blue Tigers include Clarke in the 400-meter hurdles and Rusheda Blake in the triple jump.
The Lincoln men are sending nine athletes to the national championships in six events.
The Blue Tigers' 4x100 relay of Stephen Rose, Jakiel David, Javan Gray and Tyrese Halls posted a time of 40.25 seconds earlier this spring, the second-fastest time in Division II. Roberto Smith and Gawayne Porter will be alternates for the relay.
Lincoln will account for four of the 20 competitors in the men's 100. Smith enters as the No. 2 seed with a time of 10.16, while Rose is seeded fifth (10.28), Jakiel David is seeded 15th (10.38) and Gray is seeded 18th (10.40).
The Blue Tigers will also have multiple entries in the 200 and the 400 hurdles.
Gray and Smith qualified for the 200, while Coy Spencer and Alva Henry will run in the 400 hurdles for the Blue Tigers.
Kizan David is the Lincoln men's lone qualifier in the field events. He is seeded sixth in the long jump and eighth in the triple jump.
III
Three area athletes will also be competing at the NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championships next week.
Missouri Southern senior Allie Heckemeyer (St. Elizabeth High School) is seeded in the top eight in two events at the national championships.
Heckmeyer is seeded fifth out of 16 competitors in the women's heptathlon - she scored 5,037 points earlier this month at the MIAA championships - and she is also seeded seventh in the triple jump, posting a distance of 41 feet, 3 inches earlier this spring.
Central Missouri senior Amy Dorge (Blair Oaks High School) is seeded 12th out of 20 competitors in the women's hammer throw. Dorge's best throw this spring was 189-0.25 last month at the UCM Mule Relays.
Missouri S&T senior John Karsten (Blair Oaks High School) is the No. 15 seed out of 20 qualifiers in the men's hammer throw. His qualifying marck of 179-3 was set earlier this month at the GLVC championships.
For Heckemeyer, the women's heptathlon begins at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 24, starting with the 100-meter hurdles, and will conclude at 12:30 p.m. Friday, May 25, with the 800-meter run. The women's triple jump will start at 3:45 p.m. May 25.
Both hammer throw competitions take place May 24. Karsten will begin competition at 11 a.m., while Dorge will start throwing at 2 p.m.