The 25th-ranked University of Southern Indiana men’s track & field team will send four student-athletes to the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships Thursday through Saturday, May 25-27 in Bradenton, Florida. Junior Jessica Lincoln (Palatine, Indiana) will also make the trip as the only qualifier on the Screaming Eagles’ women’s team.
Moving into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top-25 Computer Rankings for the first time in four weeks, the men will be led at the national championships by junior Bastian Grau (Höchstadt, Germany). He Will bec ompeting in the 1,500-meters where he is seeded fourth and the 5,000-meters where he recorded the fifth fastest time in NCAA II this season. Grau will look to add to his championship resume after capturing the national title in the mile at the indoor championships this past winter.
Two Eagles will appear in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with senior Chase Broughton (Marengo, Indiana) seeded 11th. Broughton finished sixth in the event at the 2016 national meet en route to his first All-America honors. Junior James Cecil (Owensboro, Kentucky) will make his first appearance in an NCAA II Track & Field Championship event after earning the 20th and final seed in the steeplechase.
Also making his first appearance in an NCAA II Track & Field Championship event, senior Noah Lutz (Evansville, Indiana) owns the 12th-fastest time in the 10,000-meters. Lincoln will also compete in the 10,000-meters in the women’s event where she is seeded 19th.
Preliminaries for the 1,500-meters will be held Thursday, May 25 at 5:10 p.m. with the finals taking place Saturday, May 27 at 4:45 p.m. The 3,000-meter steeplechase preliminaries will also be run on Thursday at 6:55 p.m., while the finals are set for Friday, May 26 at 6:30 p.m. Â Lincoln and Lutz will compete in the finals of the 10,000-meters to end Thursday’s slate with Lincoln competing at 7:55 p.m. and Lutz running at 8:35 p.m. Grau will compete in the 5,000-meter final on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in what will be the final event of the Eagles’ track & field season.
