Mankato, Minn. — The Minnesota State women\'s track team qualified six individuals and a relay team for the 2009 NCAA Division II Championships held in Angelo, Texas, May 21-23 at Angelo State University. The Maverick men\'s squad will also send two athletes to the championships.

On the women\'s side, junior Brittany Henderson (Milwaukee, Wis.) has qualified for the championships in both the 100 and 200-meter runs, marking the second consecutive season that she has qualified in the events. Last weekend, Henderson won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship in both events and was an All-American in both events a year ago. This past winter, Henderson finished fifth in the 60-meter dash and eighth in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Henderson will run in the 100-meter prelims at 6:40 p.m., May 21 and the 200-meter prelims at 6 p.m., May 22. The finals will be ran on May 23 at 7:08 p.m. (100-meter dash) and 8:24 p.m. (200-meter dash).

Junior Kelsey Leonard (Hermantown, Minn.) has qualified for the national championships in the 400-meter dash for the first time in her career. Last weekend, Leonard finished second at the NSIC Championships with a time of :56.38, which is her qualifying time. Leonard will run the prelims in the 400-meter dash at 6:10 p.m., on May 21 and if she qualifies for the finals, she will run at 6:45 p.m., on May 23.

The Maverick\'s 4x100-meter relay team also qualified for the championships. The quartet is composed of sophomore Linnelle Clark (Milwauke, Wis.), Leonard, senior Katelin Rains (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) and Henderson. The squad qualified with a mark of :46.80, which was their time in last weekend\'s NSIC Championships, a race it won. The prelims for the 4x100-meter relay is at 5:20 p.m., May 21 and the finals is at 5:40 p.m., May 23. The Mavericks have never earned All-American status in the 4x100-meter dash and have earned All-American honors just once in a relay, that coming in the 1996 when the 4x400-meter relay team finished fourth.

MSU qualified three athletes in the pole vault. Rains, the three-time defending champion in the NCAA Indoor at the pole vault, holds the highest seed with a mark of 4.10-meters. Last year, Rains finished fourth in the pole vault and was a fourth-place finisher in 2007.

Joining Rains in the pole vault is sophomore Lauren Stelten (Cologne, Minn.) who is making her second appearance at the national championships and is seeded seventh with a height of 3.92-meters. Last year, Stelten finished fourth at the NCAA Outdoor championships and was a sixth at this year\'s indoor championships in the same event. Junior Whitney Kroschel (Afton, Minn.) is making her first ever appearance in the pole vault and is seeded #16 with a height of 3.70-meters. The pole vault will take place on May 22 and 5:05 p.m.

On the men\'s side, sophomore Denis Mokaya (Ngong, Kenya) is running in the 1500-meter championships and enters as the #13 seed with a time of 3:49.80. Mokaya, who won the NSIC championships in the 1500-meters last weekend, finished eighth at the 2008 NCAA Championships in the 1500-meter run. The prelims for the event is at 5:55 p.m., May 21 and the finals is set for 6:15 p.m., May 23.

Senior Ben Mauch (Mankato, Minn.) enters the pole vault as the #14 seed with a height of 5.05-meters and is making his second trip to the national championships, with his last appearance coming in 2006. The men\'s pole vault is May 23 at 5 p.m.

In 2008, the women finished 14th at the National Championships with 21 points while the men finished 54th with one point. Results during the championships can be found at www.angelosports.com


2009 NCAA Schedule
Prelims
Name Event Date Time
Clark, Rains, Henderson, Leonard 4x100-meter dash May 21 5:20 p.m.
Denise Mokaya 1500-meter run May 21 5:55 p.m.
Kelsey Leonard 400-meter Dash May 21 6:10 p.m.
Brittany Henderson 100-meter Dash May 21 6:40 p.m.
Brittany Henderson 200-meter Dash May 22 6:00 p.m.

Finals
Name Event Date Time
Katelin Rains Pole Vault May 22 5:05 p.m.
Lauren Stelten Pole Vault May 22 5:05 p.m.
Whitney Kroschel Pole Vault May 22 5:05 p.m.
Ben Mauch Pole Vault May 23 5:00 p.m.
Clark, Rains, Henderson, Leonard 4x100-meter dash May 23 5:40 p.m.
Denise Mokaya 1500-meter run May 23 6:15 p.m.
Kelsey Leonard 400-meter Dash May 23 6:45 p.m.
Brittany Henderson 100-meter Dash May 23 7:08 p.m.
Brittany Henderson 200-meter Dash May 23 8:24 p.m.

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