Nashville, Tenn. – Eight Belmont track and field athletes will compete on Friday and Saturday at the 2007 NCAA Mideast Regional hosted by the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. This is the largest group of Belmont athletes to qualify for the Regional meet since the present championship format was introduced in 2004.

On the women’s side, five Bruins will be competing. Sophomore Lynette Rives will compete in two events, the 100 and 200 meters. Rives is competing in her second straight Regional meet and was the A-Sun Champion in the 200 meters. Sophomore Lizz Pollock qualified in the 400 meter hurdles for the first time in her career. The Clarksville, Tennessee native finished second at the A-Sun Championships in both the 100 and 400 meter hurdles and currently is the school record holder in both events.

Junior Christa Coppin qualified in the pole vault after winning the conference crown in that event two weeks ago. Coppin, a transfer from Houston, is competing in her first Regional meet and had three top-five finishes this spring, including two individual titles.

In addition, both of Belmont’s relay team qualified for this week’s meet. BU’s 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams made up of Rives, Pollock, Jessica Giles, and Khalia Turner earned a place in the Mideast Regional after winning both A-Sun titles two weeks ago. In addition, they currently hold both school relay records.

Three Belmont men have qualified for the Mideast Regionals in the same event, the 5000 meters. All three did it in the same meet, the Cardinal Invitational at Stanford on April 29.

Junior Jacob Buckman has qualified for the Regional meet for the second time in his career. Buckman, who won the A-Sun 5,000 meter title for the third time this year, previously competed at the Mideast Regional n 2005 in the 5000 meters and finished 19th. Junior Kipkosgei Magut is competing in his first Regional meet this week. Magut, the A-Sun Most Outstanding Track Performer the last two years, currently holds the school record for the 5000 meters and finished second in that event at the A-Sun Championship. Senior Ryan Snellen is also competing in his first NCAA Regional. The Cecilia, Kentucky native finished third in the 5000 at this year’s A-Sun meet and also was the conference champion in the 1500 meters.

This weekend’s meet will be held Friday-Saturday at Walton Stadium at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Preliminaries for the 4x100 relay, 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meter hurdles, as well as the finals of the 5,000 meters will be held on Friday. Finals for all event s will be held Saturday.

For information on the NCAA Mideast Regional meet, go to: http://mutigers.cstv.com/ncaatrack.

Check Bruins Online at www.belmont.edu/athletics on Friday and Saturday for updates on results involving Belmont athletes.