Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots are set to travel to Gulf Shores, AL this week for the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. UC will send seven athletes to compete in four different events after their qualifying performances throughout the season.
Jullia Morris will be competing in multiple events at the national tournament after hitting qualifying standards in both. She will compete in the triple jump event after being crowned the MSC Champion and posting national "A" Standard marks. Morris was an All-American in this event during the indoor season, and posted an outdoor season best jump of 11.91m in their last meet at Lee University.
Morris will also be a part of the Patriots 4x100 relay team that hit a national qualifying time at this year's Mid-South Conference Championship meet. Alongside her will be
Morgan Bruin,
Kathryn Hunter, and
Jaida Reed, each making their first appearance at the national meet. This relay squad sprinted to a 47.87 "A" cut finish to cement their spot at nationals.
The 5,000m racewalk will feature two UC athletes as
Jenna Grogan and
Tara Todd are set to race. Both have nationals experience, most recently competing at the NAIA Indoor National Championships. Grogan, who finished one spot away from All-American honors at indoor nationals, set a new PR at this year's home meet where she paced a 28:28.24 finish. Todd set a new PR time of 30:43.08 this year at the Rio Grande Last Chance Meet.
Lauren McHan is the final Patriot attending this year's national meet. The senior will compete in the 3,000m steeplechase at nationals for the second year in a row. She hit an "A" standard at the Washington University Distance Carnival earlier this season with a personal best time of 11:17.16.
The national tournament is slated to begin Wednesday May 25
th and go until Friday the 27
th.
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