FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2008

Lions qualify 13 athletes to 2008 NCAA Division II Nationals

Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's and women's track teams have qualified 13 individuals (six men, seven women) in 15 events for the 2008 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships held on May 22-24 at Pomona, Calif.

Leading the way for the women are multiple qualifiers Kimi Shank and Jessica Selby-Tallman. Shank qualified in both the 5k and 10k. She ranks 10th in the 5k with a time of 17:07.11, while ranking seventh in the 10k at 35:46.44. Selby-Tallman has the top marks in division II this year in both the hammer and the shot put. She enters the nationals with a mark of 193 feet, five and three quarter inches in the hammer and 50 feet, four and a quarter in the shot.

Kara Eckard qualified fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase with a school record time of 10:49.13, while Jill Weeks also picked up a school record and is fourth in the javelin with a distance of 151-3.75. Courtney Waltbillig qualified 12th in the 3k with a time of 10:06.69, while Erica Culver is 15th in the pole vault with a height of 12-04.50. Courtney Vie qualified 15th in the discus with a distance of 148 feet, two inches.

On the men's side, both Jacob Williams and Russell Ellis qualified in the pole vault with Williams qualifying eighth and Ellis tenth. TJ Britton qualified 15th in the 800m with a time of 1:52.10, while Aki Numella was 11th in the 1,500m with a time of 3:50.13. Corey Reynolds was 15th in the high jump with a height of six feet, nine and a half inches, while Phillip Horn was 12th in the decathlon with 6,542 points.