MARION, Ind. – The Eastern Oregon University track and field team will compete for national titles in 15 events beginning Thursday at the NAIA National Outdoor Championships.

The Mountaineers have 20 student athletes competing at the meet on the Indiana Wesleyan University campus this weekend. EOU sent the second-most representatives to the championship in the Cascade Collegiate Conference behind Concordia University's 34 participants. The meet has a record number of participants with over 1,400 athletes.

Sarah Hanchett will be the first Mountaineer to compete in the meet. The freshman runs in the women's 1,500 meter trials Thursday morning at 10:35 Pacific Time. She ran a 4:42.76 at the conference championships on May 14 to qualify for the national championships. Hanchett enters in a field of 31 entries. Azusa Pacific's Poppy Lawman has the country's top time at 4:28.59.

Three EOU athletes begin their title quest at 11 a.m. Thursday in the men's hammer throw. Chris Dilley, Andy Munsey, and Mitch Wheelhouse are seeded 4th, 20th, and 22nd respectively in the event. Dilley returns after finishing second at the meet his junior season a year ago. The senior had a season-best throw of 199 feet, four inches at the Oregon Relays on April 30.

The top toss of the year belongs to Lindenwood's Bruno Boccolotta at 212 feet, four inches. The freshman hit the mark at the Florida Relays on April 2, but has failed to come close since. Dilley is just two feet, eight inches shy of having NAIA's second best throw in 2010. The NAIA championship record belongs to Per Karlsson of Point Loma Nazarene with a throw of 231 feet, two inches in 1992. Shawn Trimble was the last EOU athlete to capture an individual national title in a field event in 2003 when he won the pole vault.

Maddison Stapleton begins in the women's pole vault at 1 p.m. Thursday. The sophomore became a conference champion this season and hit a high mark of 11 feet, three inches in the EOU Open on April 17. Oklahoma Baptist's Brianna Shippy's 12 feet, nine and a half inches is holding off Kelsey Aide's 12 feet, nine inch jump for the best mark of the season.

At 1:10 p.m., Alma Garcilazo enters the women's 800 meters in the top five. The sophomore is eight seconds off of the current leader's pace, Helen Crofts of Simon Fraser. SFU holds the top three seeds in the event.

Ryan Booth and Andrew Perri take a pair of top eight seeds into the men's 800-meter trials at 1:30 p.m. Booth is seeded fourth and Perri is eighth in a field of 22 runners. One of the nation's best runners, Silas Kisorio of Oklahoma Christian, tops the NAIA with a time of 1:49.21. Booth and Perri each hit their season bests at the same meet after starting in the same lane at the Oregon Relays. Booth finished at 1:50.64 and Perri's time was 1:51.20.

The women's 400-meter hurdle trials begin at 2:15 p.m., and Kimmy Moore will represent Eastern in the event. The sophomore ran a 1:04.40 at the NNU Invite on April 23 and that time is seeded 19th at the championships. Oklahoma Baptist's Verone Chambers is the only woman to run under a minute this season and has the top seed at 59.57.

The women's 4x800-meter relay trials are EOU's next event at 3:30 p.m. The field includes 30 schools and the Mountaineers brought six runners for the event. Eastern ran a 9:33.50 at the Pacific Twilight, but will have to contend with Malone's top mark of 9:19.19.

Karlee Coffey and Terry Johnsen will compete in the only finals of the day on the track, the women's and men's 10,000-meter races. Coffey enters the event seeded sixth after running a 36:04.99 at the Oregon Relays. Fellow CCC athlete, Alice Taylor of Concordia, is the top seed at 35:40.35. Johnsen has history on his side. The last EOU national champion was Tim Riley in the 10,000 meters. Riley ran a 31:29.56 in 2004 in Louisville, Ky. Johnsen ran a 31:42.41 to qualify at the CCC Championships.

Dilley returns to action Friday in the men's discus. The Portland native is seeded 16th in the event. He finished eighth at last year's national championships in the event, just three inches short of a second All-American nod. Dilley's top toss of 159 feet, nine inches will have to compete with Jared Schuurman's of Doane NAIA-best throw of 188 feet, one inch. Dilley threw 164 feet, 10 inches last season at the meet.

Coffey and Johnsen return to the track Friday in the women's and men's 5,000-meter semifinals. Coffey is seeded 16th and Johnsen is 29th. The women's and men's 4x400-meter relay teams will follow at 5:15 and 5:35 p.m. Justin Dean will represent the Mountaineers in the men's Marathon at 3 a.m. Pacific Time Saturday.

Eastern Oregon owns four men's individual titles, but the women have yet to win an individual title. The Eastern Sports Information Department will be providing a live blog, daily video journals, and releases from the Hoosier state.

Below are the links to three live video streaming cameras from the meet. Click the links to see what events the cameras will be covering and the time. The video is free for all users.


Below is the schedule for the Mountaineer participants. There are semifinals and finals for Thursday's trials on Friday and Saturday that are not listed. The seed of the athlete in the event is listed in the parenthesis. All times are Pacific.

THURSDAY, MAY 27
10:35 a.m.: Women's 1,500 Trials – Sarah Hanchett (15th)
11 a.m.: Men's Hammer Throw Finals – Chris Dilley (4th), Andy Munsey (20th), Mitch Wheelhouse (22nd)
1 p.m.: Women's Pole Vault Finals - Maddison Stapleton (21st)
1:10 p.m.: Women's 800 Trials – Alma Garcilazo (5th)
1:30 p.m.: Men's 800 Trials – Ryan Booth (4th), Andrew Perri (8th)
2:15 p.m.: Women's 400 Hurdle Trials – Kimmy Moore (19th)
3:30 p.m.: Women's 4x800 Relay Trials – EOU (22nd) Talissa Baldovino, Sierra Engler, Alma Garcilazo, Sarah Hanchett, Jessianne Heley, Kimmy Moore
5:30 p.m.: Women's 10,000 Finals – Karlee Coffey (6th)
6:20 p.m.: Men's 10,000 Finals – Terry Johnsen (19th)

FRIDAY, MAY 28
2 p.m.: Men's Discus Finals – Chris Dilley (16th)
3:40 p.m.: Women's 5,000 Semifinals – Karlee Coffey (16th)
4:30 p.m.: Men's 5,000 Semifnals – Terry Johnsen (29th)
5:15 p.m.: Women's 4x400 Relay Semifinals – EOU (13th) Melisa Abesa, Talissa Baldovino, Grace Deboodt, Sarah Engler, Alma Garcilazo, Sarah Hanchett, Jessianne Heley, Kimmy Moore
5:35 p.m.: Men's 4x400 Relay Semifinals – EOU (20th) Ryan Booth, Dustin Cloud, Andrew Perri, Kevin Sthen, Andrew Wise

SATURDAY, MAY 29
3 a.m.: Men's Marathon – Justin Dean (19th)