NCAA Division II champs starts Thursday with slew of athletes from Western, Central, and Seattle Pacific...

Thursday marks the start of the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships at Francis G. Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas.

Western Washington, Central Washington and Seattle Pacific will send athletes to the national championships. Athletes earned their way to the national championships by attaining marks that were in the top 22 on the Division II descending order list in the individual events. In the combined events and the relays, the top 16 individuals and teams advanced to the national championships.

Decathlete Drew Klein (Nathan Herde/GNAC photo) of Central Washington kicks things off with the first day of the decathlon at 8:30 Pacific/10:30 local time, where he'll contest the 100, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 before doing another five events Friday. Klein is seeded 16th in the field.

Western Washington's Calvin Gutierrez enters the men's hammer seeded tenth. He goes at 10:30 Pacific/12:30 local time.

Three hours later, Kathryn Chapin of Western Washington throws in the finals of the women's hammer, where she is seeded twelfth.

Central Washington's 4 x 100 relay team of Ashlyn Nielsen, Zoe Gonzales, Elise Hopper, and Layla Fields (Nathan Herde/GNAC photo) take to the track in the semifinals for a shot at Saturday's finals, where they're seeded fourth. They go at 3 pm Pacific/5 pm local time.

Twenty five minutes later, Emmy Kroontje of Western Washington runs in the semis of the women's 1500m, where she was one of the last one in the field after scratches. The top four in each of the two heats plus the four fastest time qualifiers advance to Saturday's final.

At 3:40 pm Pacific/5:40 pm local time, Seattle Pacific's lone qualifier, Justin Brooks, the GNAC runner up, runs in the men's 400 semis. Brooks enters the national championships seeded 13th. He'll be joined by Lucas Brenek of Western Washington, seeded 17th.

Brooks will be followed 15 minutes later by Elise Hopper of Central Washington and Bec Bennett of Western Washington in the women's 400 semis.  Hopper, the GNAC champion, is seeded fourth, while Bennett is seeded fifth.

Western Washington's Maurice Woodring, who enters the NCAA championship meet seeded second, runs in the semis of the 400 hurdles at 5:40 pm Pacific/7:40 pm local time.  Central Washington's Josh Boast, the number 15 seed, is also in the field.

Central Washington's Ellie DeGroot, who is seeded 19th, runs in one of the three semifinals in the women's 400 hurdles, where she hopes to upset the form charts and earn a spot in Saturday's finals.

In the lone final on the track, Aberdeen HS grad Julian Campos of Adams State, the national leader in the men's 10000 meters at 28:40.63, aims for a national title in the event. His race goes at 6:10 pm Pacific/8:10 pm local time.

NCAA.com will stream all three days of the Division II championships.  The time schedule and the link to live results are available here.

ALLEN, MARKEZICH & MITCHELL CONTINUE THEIR TOUR OF CHINA AT XIAMEN DIAMOND LEAGUE MEET SATURDAY...

Washington State alum CJ Allen, Woodinville native Olivia Markezich and former Seattle Pacific All-American Kaylee Mitchell continue their tour of China at the Xiamen stop of the season long Wanda Diamond League tour Saturday.

Allen will run the 400 hurdles against a field that includes former world champions Alison dos Santos of Brazil and Karsten Warholm of Norway.  dos Santos won the opening meet of the Wanda Diamond League season in the infrequently contested 300 hurdles over Warholm in Shanghai/Keqiao, while Allen was seventh.

Markezich and Mitchell once again will run the 3000 steeplechase. In last week's meet in Shanghai/Keqiao, Markezich was 11th in 9:22.15, and Mitchell 12th in 9:24.26. The top three finishers from last week's meet, led by winner and world leader Peruth Chemutai of Uganda, are all in the field.

The start list for the Xiamen Diamond League meet is available here. Flotrack ($) will stream the meet in the USA. The stream begins Saturday at 3:10 am Pacific.

NOTE: The NCAA, GNAC, and the Wanda Diamond League contributed to this report.

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