FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2007

Lions qualify ten athletes for NCAA Division II National Meet

Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's and women's track and field teams have qualified 10 individuals for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships to be held in Charlotte, N.C. on May 24-26. Johnson C. Smith University will be the host for the event.

A trio of pole vaulters once again will look to continue Southern's dominance in the event as Russell Ellis, Jacob Williams and Seager Wilson have all qualified. Ellis and Williams are tied for third place nationally in the event, both qualifying with a height of 16 feet, nine and a quarter inches. Ellis hit his height, winning the MIAA Title in Hays, while Williams was the top collegiate vaulter at last weekend's Emporia State Last Chance Qualifier. Wilson, the reigning MIAA Indoor Champion, is sixth in the country with a height of 16 feet, five and a half inches.

Corey Reynolds hit six feet, nine and three quarter inches, winning the high jump at the Lionbacker Last Chance last week, and qualified for the national meet. He ranks 14th in Division II.

Marcus Walton qualified for two events, first in the 800m, where he ranks 12th nationally, and again as part of the Southern 4x400m relay team. The team, comprised of Walton, Tyler Chiartano, Ryan McPeak and TJ Britton ranks 12th nationally with a seed time of 3:10.84, which they achieved at ESU last Saturday.

Jessica Selby leads the Southern women's contingent into the meet. The three-time defending MIAA indoor and outdoor shot put champion has the nation's best shot put and hammer throw going into the event. Selby won the MIAA titles in the shot and hammer this year throwing a school record 185 feet in the hammer. She added to her school records when she broke her own mark in the shot put with a toss of 49 feet, 10 inches at ESU.

Freshman sprinter Danielle Oliver qualified in the 100m dash and is ranked 13th in Division II in the event. She ran an 11.84 in the prelims at the MIAA Championships, breaking the school record by a tenth of a second.