Mankato, Minn. ---  The Minnesota State men's track and field team will send five participants to next week's NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships.  The championships, which run from May 24-26, will be held in the Neta & Eddie DeRosa ThunderBowl in Pueblo, Colo., and are hosted by CSU Pueblo.  

Sophomore shot putter #Chris Reed# (Omaha, Neb.), was the lone Maverick to achieve an automatic bid with a toss of 18.20 meters at last month's CSU-Los Angeles Twilight meet.  Reed, who is the two-time defending Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference champion in the shot put, won last weekend's NSIC title with a heave of 18.20 meters.  This marks Reed's first appearance at the NCAA outdoor championships. In 2010, he qualified for the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in the shot put.  Reed, who is seeded fourth, is scheduled to throw on May 26 at 11:30 a.m.

Junior pole vaulter #Dan Novak# (Wausau, Wis.) is making his second career NCAA Division II Outdoor appearance and is seeded 13 in the NCAA Championships.  Novak, who vaults at 4:50 p.m., on May 26, reached the provisional mark at last weekend's NSIC Championships with a vault of 4.93 meters, which won the event.  During his career, he is a three-time All-American, finishing second indoors in 2009 and 2010 and third in 2012.  In his only appearance in the outdoor championships in 2010, he failed to make height.

Junior sprinter #Jerrell Hancock# (St. Louis, Mo.) is seeded fourth in the 200-meter dash and is making his debut at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.  Last weekend at the NSIC championships, Hancock won the 200-meters with a time of :21.21.  In the prelims of the meet he established a league record with a time of :20.92.  This past winter at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships, Hancock earned All-American honors in the 200 meters (fifth, :21.65) and the 60-meters (eighth,:6.89).  The prelims for the 200-mteer dash are at 5:45 p.m on May 25 and the finals are at 7:55 p.m. on May 26.

Junior sprinter #Nick Nelson# (Lakeville, Minn.) enters the 100-meter dash as the 15th-seed with a season-best mark of :10.51 which he achieved at the NSIC Championships last week where he finished second.  Nelson is making his debut at the NCAA Championships.  The prelims for the 100-meter dash are Thursday, May 24 at 6:25 p.m., and the finals are Saturday, May 26 at 6:45 p.m.

Junior multi-eventer #Tandy Juell# (Redwood Falls, Minn.), is making his first appearance at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships in the decathlon.  Earlier this month Juell claimed the NSIC Decathlon title with 6,968 points and is seeded fifth entering the national championships.  Juell finished eighth at this year's NCAA Division II Indoor Championship for his lone All-American honor at MSU.  Juell, who started his collegiate career at Bemidji State, was an All-American in the decathlon in 2011 when he finished seventh.  The decathlon is scheduled for 10:30 a.m., May 24 and 10 a.m., May 25.

Minnesota State head coach Mark Schuck was also honored Tuesday as he was named the NSIC Outdoor Coach of the Year.  Schuck, who was also named the NSIC Indoor Coach of the Year, oversaw MSU's third NSIC Outdoor title in the past four seasons last week as the Mavericks finished the league championships with 212 points during the two-day event.

For more information on the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships, please visit: HERE

MSU's Schedule at the National Championships

Name	Event	Date	Time (MDT)	Career All-American Honors (Indoor/Outdoor)
Tandy Juell	Decathlon	May 24	10:30 a.m.	2 (1/1)
	Decathlon	May 25	10 a.m.
Jerrell Hancock	200-meters (Prelims)	May 25	5:45 p.m.	2 (2/0)
	200-meters (Finals)	May 26	7:55 p.m.
Nick Nelson	100-meters (Prelims)	May 24	6:25 p.m.	0
	100-meters (Finals)	May 26	6:45 p.m.
Dan Novak	Pole Vault	May 26	4:50 p.m.	3 (3/0)
Chris Reed	Shot Put	May 26	11:30 a.m.	0

Head coach Mark Schuck previews the championships: