NCAA DIVISION III MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
NCAA MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS

NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
NCAA WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS

MINNEAPOLIS -- Three Augsburg College student-athletes will compete at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, to be held this weekend at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.

On the men's side, Nick Ward (SR, Coon Rapids, Minn.) qualified for his second NCAA national competition, this time in the 100-meter dash, while Matthew Schafer (SO, New Brighton, Minn./Irondale HS) qualified for national competition for the first time in the 800-meter run.

On the women's side, Shanek Telphia (SO, Chicago, Ill./Gage Park HS) earned her third trip to the NCAA championships, this time in the 200-meter dash.

Action begins for the Auggies on Thursday (5/26) at 8 p.m. (all times Eastern), when Telphia competes in the women's 200-meter dash preliminaries. On Friday (5/27), Ward will compete in the men's 100-meter preliminaries at 7:30 p.m., and Schafer will compete in the men's 800-meter preliminaries at 8 p.m. Finals in all three events will be on Saturday (5/28), with the men's 100-meter finals at 3 p.m., the men's 800-meter finals at 3:20 p.m., and the women's 200-meter finals at 4:15 p.m.

Augsburg has now had 59 qualifiers for women's track and field national competition in school history (54 in NCAA competition since 1985, five in NAIA competition in 1982-83) and 13 qualifiers for men's track and field national competition in school history (12 in NCAA competition, one in NAIA competition).

One of the top men's sprinters in school history, Ward earned his first trip to national competition this spring, when he competed in the men's 55-meter dash at the NCAA indoor championships in Columbus, Ohio. Ward's qualifying time of 10.73 seconds in the men's 100-meter dash is the 17th-fastest among the 22 entrants in the event.

This season, Ward won the conference titles in the men's 55-meter dash and men's long jump at the MIAC indoor championships, while finishing second in the men's 100-meter dash and winning a conference title as part of the 400-meter relay at the MIAC outdoor championships. In his career, Ward has earned seven MIAC titles, 12 All-MIAC honors and eight All-MIAC honorable-mention honors, to go along with eight school records.

Telphia will be competing in her third NCAA national competition this weekend. Last season, Telphia competed at the NCAA indoor championships in the women's 400-meter dash, while competing as part of the 400-meter relay in the NCAA outdoor championships. Telphia's qualifying time of 25.04 seconds in the 200-meter dash is the 16th-fastest among the 26 entrants in the event.

This season, Telphia won the women's 200-meter dash at the MIAC outdoor championships, while also winning conference titles as part of the indoor 800-meter relay and outdoor 400-meter relay. In her two seasons at Augsburg, Telphia has already won or been a part of six MIAC titles, with 12 All-MIAC honors and four All-MIAC honorable-mention honors, to go along with five school records.

Schafer will compete at the NCAA championships for the first time in his track and field career. His qualifying time in the men's 800-meter run of 1:52.35, which he recorded with a second-place finish at the MIAC outdoor championships, is 18th among the 19 competitors in the event.

In his track career, Schafer has earned two All-MIAC and four All-MIAC honorable-mention honors. He holds the school record in the indoor 800 (1:56.24) while also part of a school record in the outdoor sprint medley relay (3:27.07). In cross country, Schafer was Augsburg's No. 1 runner this season, finishing 19th at the MIAC championships.