PUEBLO, CO - The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's and Women's Track & Field teams have arrived in Colorado and are making their final preparations for this weekend's national championships, hosted by CSU Pueblo. 

The Bears had a light practice session yesterday afternoon and will have one more today before beginning competition on Thursday.

The first Bear to compete will be Oliver Thatcher as he will start the decathlon at 12:30 p.m. ET. Thatcher will compete in the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400 meters on Thursday. Beginning just after him will be Miranda Marr in the heptathlon, as she will open with the 100 meter hurdles at 1:00 p.m. ET. She will compete in the 100m Hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 200 meters on Thursday before finishing out the national championships with the long jump, javelin throw, and 800 meters on Friday.

The Bears will open the running events with the first event of the national championships, the women's 4x100m on Thursday at 6:40 p.m. The reigning national champions in this event are seeded sixth with a time of 44.73. Damyja Ortiz will run in the women's 400m prelims at 7:40 p.m. ET, followed by freshman Havyn Spain running the same event at 7:55 p.m. ET. Ortiz will be competing in four events this weekend while Spain became Lenoir-Rhyne's record holder in that event due to his 46.69 performance at the SAC Championships. The final event of the night will be Alexis Brown competing in the 100m dash. This is her event to lose, as she is the reigning national champion and holds both the NCAA Division II All-Conditions (10.96) and wind-legal (11.04) records. She holds the nine fastest wind-legal times in Division II history. 

The first running event on Friday will be the women's 200m dash, which will have both Alexis Brown and Damyja Ortiz competing. Brown is the indoor 200m record holder and ran a 22.67 earlier this year, the third fastest outdoor time in NCAA Divison II history. Ortiz qualified 21st in the nation after she set a new personal best time of 23.67 at the SAC Championships. The day will close out with the women's 4x400m, where the Bears qualified with the fifth fastest time in the country (3:37.47). This broke a school record and is within a second of the top qualifier.

Saturday consists of just finals. The Bears have an opportunity to qualify for six finals, one on the men's side and five on the women's.

Schedule of Lenoir-Rhyne Events
Thursday
12:30 p.m. ET - Decathlon / Oliver Thatcher
1:00 p.m. ET - Heptathlon / Miranda Marr
6:40 p.m. ET - Women's 4x100m Relay (Prelims)
7:40 p.m. ET - Women's 400m (Prelims) / Damyja Ortiz
7:55 p.m. ET - Men's 400m (Prelims) / Havyn Spain
8:10 p.m. ET - Women's 100m Dash (Prelims) - Alexis Brown

Friday
11:30 a.m. ET - Decathlon / Oliver Thatcher
12:30 p.m. ET - Heptathlon / Miranda Marr
7:30 p.m. ET - Women's 200m Dash (Prelims) / Alexis Brown & Damyja Ortiz
9:50 p.m. ET - Women's 4x400m (Prelims)

Saturday
7:10 p.m. ET - Women's 4x100m Relay (Finals)
8:20 p.m. ET - Women's 400m (Finals)
8:30 p.m. ET - Men's 400m (Finals)
8:40 p.m. ET - Women's 100m Dash (Finals)
9:45 p.m. ET - Women's 200m Dash (Finals)
10:55 p.m. ET - Women's 4x400m (Finals)