Mustangs are ready to roll at outdoor national championships

GULF SHORES, Ala. -- Mount Mercy track & field standouts Bre Nail, Deanna Newhouse, Ceondae Adams, Sergio Chofong, Connor Christophersen, Nate Keiper, Jordan Schroeder, and Mitch Miller compete against the best in the nation this week at the 41st Annual Women's and 70th Annual Men's NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium. [live results] [watch live]

Starting things off this week will be the men's 4x100 meter relay squad that includes Adams, Schroeder, Chofong, Christophersen, and Keiper. The group enters the championships seeded 39th in the event with a time of :41.78 at the SAU Mini-Meet on May 11. Prelims for the 4x100 meter relay are Wednesday at 4:10 pm with the finals scheduled for Friday at 2:50 pm.

Adams, a two-time indoor national qualifier as a freshman earlier this spring, will race again for the Mustangs on Wednesday night in the 200 meter dash at 6:15 pm. The Heart of America Athletic Conference outdoor champion in the event is ranked 32nd in the nation in the 200 meters with a season-best :21.42 at the Mustang Invitational on April 23. The finals are scheduled for Friday at 5:20 pm.

Newhouse caps off Wednesday's schedule with the 10,000 meter run at 9:30 pm. She comes in as the 24th seed in the event after qualifying for the event with a time of 37:58.95 at the Mustang Open on April 9. Newhouse was the Heart of America outdoor champion in both the 5K and 10K this spring.

Nail will be the first Mustang to compete on Thursday in the shot put at 2:30 pm. The four-time national qualifier who was an all-American in the event at this spring's NAIA indoor national championships, will look to do the same this week. She enters the outdoor championships ranked seventh in the nation with a personal best and school record throw of 14.07 meters at the Rittgers Invitational on April 15.

Adams takes the track again on Thursday at 3:15 pm, this time in the prelims of the 110 meter hurdles. He ranks 21st in the nation coming into the outdoor championships with a qualifying time of :14.70 at the Mustang Open on April 9. If Adams reaches the finals, he will race again on Friday at 3:30 pm.

Miller, Mount Mercy's school record holder in the discus, also competes on Thursday. He will enter the ring at 5:00 pm as the 22nd seed in the event. Miller had his best performance at the Mustang Invitational on April 23, setting the school mark and a personal best with a toss of 48.55 meters.