GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Twenty-six elite members of the Colorado Mesa University track and field athletes will head to southern California this week as they will tune-up or attempt to qualify for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships in a pair of last chance qualification meets.
 
The Mavericks will compete in Azusa Pacific University's Franson Last Chance meet that begins on Thursday with heptathlon and decathlon action.  That meet will run through Saturday at Cougar Stadium in Azusa.
 
The Mavs will then turn their attention to the aptly named Very Last, Last Chance Meet hosted by Cal State LA at the Golden Eagles' Jesse Owens Track in Los Angeles on Sunday, the last day of the qualification window for the May 23-25 national championships in Emporia, Kansas.

Follow the Mavs

Live results of the APU Franson Last Chance meet can be found at the link above.

A live results link for the Cal State LA Very Last, Last Chance meet has not yet been made available but will be posted on www.cmumavericks.com if/when it is.

A daily recap of the Mavericks' efforts will also be posted each evening throughout the week.

Who's Entered

Here is a list of Mavericks entered in each meet, along with their season best performance to date and current NCAA Division II Performance List rank.  The start time for each event (listed in Pacific Time) is also listed.  More information about the NCAA Championship selection process can be found below.

Azusa Pacific Franson Last Chance Meet
Thursday
2 p.m.- Heptathlon (Day 1)- Katie Thomson (4872, 27^th)
Friday
3 p.m.- Heptathlon (Day 2)
6 p.m.- Women's 800- Brooke Miller (2:10.68, 36^th)
9:35 p.m.- Women's 10,000- Kirstin Williams (35:21.93; 26^th)
Saturday-Track Events
1:10 p.m.- Women's 4x100m Relay (45.89, 27^th)
1:55 p.m.- Women's 400m- Jordan Burnett (NT, Unranked)
2:10 p.m.- Men's 400m- Justin Blanton (47.19; 24^th)
2:55 p.m.- Men's 400m Hurdles- Kelsey Montague (52.02, 16^th)
3:10 p.m.- Women's 200m- Gaby Horton (23.63, 17^th)
3:30 p.m.- Men's 200m- Elijah Williams (21.06; 34^th) & Teo Casados (21.11, 40^th)
Saturday- Field Events
10 a.m.- Men's Javelin- Izaak Siefken (58.97, 47^th)
12 p.m.- Women's Discus- Heather Yackey (46.77, 22^nd), Christina Palmer (46.76m, 24^th) & Augustine Hancock (44.15m, Unranked)
12 p.m.- Men's High Jump- Eddie Kurjak (2.20m, 10^th)
2:30 p.m.- Women's High Jump- Josie Coffey (1.80m, 1^st) & Hope Matteson (1.67m, 44^th)
2:30 p.m.- Men's Long Jump- Miller Jones (7.53m, 19^th)
3:30 p.m.- Women's Triple Jump- Kylee Kielian (12.14m, 28^th)
5 p.m.- Men's Triple Jump- Miller Jones (15.84m, 1^st)

Cal State LA Very Last, Last Chance Meet
*-Times based on the tentative meet schedule.

Field Events
8 a.m. Women's Discus Throw- Hancock, Palmer & Yackey
10:30 a.m.- Men's Long Jump- Jones & Justin Thompson (7.61m, 14^th)
12:30 p.m.- Men's Triple Jump- Zace Buckhold (15.17m, 13^th), Jones & Eddie Kurjak (15.28m, Unranked)
Women's Triple Jump to Follow- Kielian
Men's High Jump (Time not included in schedule)- Kurjak
Women's High Jump (Time not included in schedule)- Coffey & Matteson
Men's Javelin Throw (Time not included in schedule)- Seifken

Track Events
10 a.m.- Women's 4x100m Relay
10:10 a.m.- Men's 4x100m Relay (40.45, 27^th)
11:20 a.m.- Men's 400m- Blanton & Montague (49.02)
11:30 a.m.- Women's 100m- Serenity Burnett-Perry (11.30, Unranked) & Horton (11.71, 41^st)
11:40 a.m.- Men's 100m- Casados (10.52, Unranked), Kade Christensen (10.59, Unranked), Marik Cummings (10.58, Unranked), Beau Thornton (10.78, Unranked) & Williams (10.40; 35^th)
11:55 a.m.- Women's 800m- Miller
12:05 p.m.- Men's 800m- Kyle Towne (1:53.21, Unranked)
12:35 p.m.- Women's 200m- Burnett (24.17, 53^rd) & Horton
12:45 p.m.- Men's 200m- Blanton (21.40, Unranked), Casados, Christensen (21.66, Unranked) & Williams

What it Takes

Following all of the meets around the country this week, the NCAA Division II Track & Committee will go to work in setting the fields for the national championships. 

A total of 377 athletes per gender will be selected based on their rank on the season-long performance lists after reaching the provision qualifying standard in their event.

The committee has desired minimum field sizes of 20 for individual events, 16 for combined events and 14 for relays.  In order to control field sizes and the length of the championships, the committee has implemented maximum field sizes of 24 for individual events, 18 for relays and 16 for combined events.

Thus, it is important for the Mavericks to hold or improve their position into the 20/16/14 range to ensure selection.  If they fall just short of that but within the maximum field size, they would be on the bubble.

Who's Safe

National leaders Josie Coffey (women's high jump) & Miller Jones (men's triple jump) are all but assured of a national championship selection.  Eddie Kurjak (men's high jump), Zace Buckhold (men's triple jump) and Justin Thompson (men's long jump) also appear to be safe with ranks between 10-14.

Gaby Horton (women's 200m) & Jones (long jump) are also currently on the right side of the cut line but would like to improve their rank this weekend.  The remaining Mavericks will likely need to improve upon their earlier season bests to reach the NCAA Championships.

Up Next

The declaration process for the national championships will be held on Monday.  The championship fields will be posted on NCAA.com via a press release on Tuesday, no later than 6 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. Mountain).

The NCAA Division II Championships begin on Thursday, May 23 in Emporia, Kansas and will be hosted by Emporia State University at the Hornets' Welch Stadium.