INDIANAPOLIS – Five members of the Eastern New Mexico track and field team were officially selected to compete at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships that will be held in Kingsville, Texas on May 23-25.
The women’s 4×100-meter relay team consisting of Kandice Miles, Maijah Mathis, Danee Bustos and Lateria Slaughter made the cut while junior middle distance runner Ivar Moinat was selected to compete in the 800-meter event.
The relay team will enter the meet as the sixth-fastest squad in NCAA Division II with a seeded time of 45.68, converted from a 45.56 that was set in the Hounds’ third place finish at the Lone Star Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The squad is returning to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second straight year after the team took eighth and earned All-American honors at last year’s championship meet.
Mathis and Miles will be competing in three events at the NCAA Championships as the duo will also be running as individuals in the 100-meter and 200-meter events.
Miles enters the 200-meter prelims with the 11thfastest time in Division II at 23.94, which was converted down from her ENMU record-breaking silver medal run of 23.87 at the LSC Outdoor Championships. The Houston, Texas product will enter the 100-meter prelims with the 22nd-seeded time of 11.76, converted down from her run of 11.73 set at the West Texas A&M Invitational. Miles set a personal best in the 100-meter at the LSC Championships when she crossed the finish line in 11.60, but the mark unfortunately didn’t qualify due to an illegal wind reading.
Competing in her first ever individual events at the NCAA National Championships, Mathis enters the 100-meter dash prelims with the 19th-seeded time of 11.74, which was converted from her 11.71 time set at the WTAMU Invitational. The mark broke her own ENMU record in the 100-meter as she matched it two weeks later with her third place finish at the LSC Outdoor Championships. The Wellington, Fla. native also qualified for the 200-meter with the 19th-fastest time of 24.14, converted down from her run of 24.07 that was also completed at the WTAMU Invitational.
Bustos will be competing in her fourth NCAA Championship meet in her prestigious Greyhounds career and her second in 2019 after qualifying for the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships on Mar. 8-9. The Belen, N.M. native ran in the 200-meter prelims during the indoor meet and came away with an 18th place time of 24.94. Bustos competed in both the 200-meter and 4×100-meter relay events at last year’s outdoor championships and will be seeking a second All-American run at the meet.
Slaughter will be competing in her second 4×100-meter relay event at the NCAA Championships. The Lubbock, Texas product was a member of last year’s relay team that earned All-American honors.
On the men’s side, Moinat will be seeking a second All-American accolade in 2019 as the Amsterdam, Netherlands native was selected to the 800-meter field. Moinat is coming off a seventh place finish at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships with a time of 1:51.25, earning his first ever All-American accolade. During the outdoor season, Moinat recorded the 17th fastest time in Division II with a 1:50.66, converted from his 1:51.03 that was set at the West Texas A&M Classic and Multi. The junior middle distance runner is coming off a second place finish in the 800-meter event at the LSC Outdoor Championships, his best ever finish in an individual event at the conference meet.
The women’s 4×100-meter relay team will open competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with preliminaries being held at 4:35 p.m. on Thursday, May 23. Mathis and Miles will then run in the 100-meter prelims at 5:55 p.m. The pair of sprinters will return to the track on Friday, May 24 to compete in the 200-meter prelims at 4:35 p.m. while Moinat will run in the 800-meter prelims slated for a 5:20 p.m. start.
