INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – On the strength of his personal-best time in the 5,000 meter run at the Grand Valley State Holiday Open in early December, Anderson senior standout Mason Hazel has earned a berth in the 2018 NCAA Division II Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships, as announced by the NCAA.
Hazel posted his 14:18.98 qualifying time on Dec. 1, when he finished seventh overall at the Laker's Kelly Family Sports Center. His mark turned out to be the fastest time in the 5k in the Southeast Region this season by more than five seconds and was the 17th-best time in the nation.
The championships will be held March 9-10 in Pittsburg, Kan., at the Robert W. Plaster Center. Pittsburg State University and the Crawford County Convention & Visitors Bureau will serve as co-hosts of the championships. The championships will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
Hazel is the second Anderson student-athlete to make an appearance at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in as many seasons after Haylee Love posted a 14th-place finish in the prelims of the women's mile run at last year's NCAA Championships. Former women's standout Whitney Bishoff posted a seventh-place finish in the qualifying round of the 2011 NCAA Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.
Hazel joins Lenoir-Rhyne's P.J. Lotharp, Tusculum's Widchard Guervil, Wingate's Isaiah Kyle and Nathanael Patterson, Carson Newman's Devon Moore, Kieran Showler-Davis and Tanner Stepp, along with Queens' Kevin Harrison, Elijah Inuwa, Daniel Wallis, Felix Wammetsberger from the South Atlantic Conference.
The finals are slated for a 5:55 p.m. (Central) start on Friday, March 9.
The native of Summerville, S.C., won the 3,000 meter run at last Sunday's JDL Last Chance Invitational in Winston-Salem, N.C. and finished second in the 5,000 meters at the inaugural South Atlantic Conference Championships less than two weeks ago.
