UMR to take three to NCAA Division II Track Championships

The University of Missouri-Rolla will have three individuals taking part in the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships over Memorial Day weekend at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C.

Becca Kueny, who earned All-America honors in the javelin throw last season, will have a chance to earn a second award in the event as the lone member of the Lady Miner squad picked to take part.

The men's team, meanwhile, will have a pair of first-time national entrants in senior Chris Carsten and freshman Peter Hollenbeck. Carsten will compete in the two events where he holds the UMR school record, the hammer throw and shot put, while Hollenbeck will compete in the pole vault.

Kueny will go into the national meet ranked 16th in the event in which 18 competitors were selected. She earned All-America honors last season at nationals at Emporia State with a throw of 148-6 to place eighth. Her top throw of the 2007 outdoor season is 138-9 and is a back-to-back Great Lakes Valley Conference champion in the event.

The national leader in the event is SIU Edwardsville's Alicia DeShasier with a mark of 164-9.

Hollenbeck continues a line of pole vaulters who have earned berths to nationals, as he is the fourth different member of that group to earn a national berth in the last four seasons. His top clearance of the season, 16-1 1/4 set during the Dewey Allgood Invitational at UMR, has him ranked in a tie for 10th heading into the meet.

The current leader in the pole vault is Grand Valley State's Bryant Wilson with a mark of 17-1 1/2.

Carsten set new school records this season in the hammer throw with a mark of 182-2 -- which won the GLVC title -- and shot put at 54-1 1/4 which was established during the Miners' home meet this spring.

He is 13th in the shot put and 18th in the hammer throw going into the national meet. The top performances in the events this season have been posted by competitors from Ashland University, with the shot put mark coming from Bryan Vickers of 61-8 1/4 and the top hammer mark is owned by Kibwe Johnson of 241-3.

The NCAA Championships get underway May 24. Carsten will compete in each of the first two days, with the hammer throw taking place on May 24 at 3 p.m. and the shot put at the same time on the following day. Kueny will compete May 26 in the javelin at 2:15 p.m., while Hollenbeck will be in action later that day in the pole vault at 5 p.m.