St. Francis (IL) News
Sun, May 30, 2010 - [Men's Indoor Track & Field]
Ian McDowell qualified for the finals in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in his first NAIA nationals appearance.
Ian McDowell qualified for the finals in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in his first NAIA nationals appearance.

MARION, Ind. --- University of St. Francis qualified two of its three individuals for the finals in two separate events at the 2010 NAIA National Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships over the weekend on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University.

Junior transfer Ian McDowell (Lansing Community College, MI/Lansing, MI) and freshman Sean Smith (Winnebago H.S./Winnebago, IL) qualified in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and the 5,000 meter run, respectively.

McDowell was one of 13 individuals to advance to the finals out of three flights. He posted a time of 9:27.45 in the preliminaries before recording a time of 9:29.74 in the finals to place 12th out of 13.

Smith, meanwhile, made it to the finals with a preliminary time of 14:59.18 before placing 13th out of 15 with a 15:31.92.

Junior transfer Josh Barry (Moraine Valley Community College/Tinley Park, IL) also represented USF at the championships, where he placed fifth out of nine individuals in preliminary flight 3 of 3 with a throw of 145-feet, 3-inches (44.28 meters), but did not qualify for the finals.

Joining with the three members of USF's women's team (Meghan Bannatz, Jessica Horn and Chelsea Rimington), the group of six total athletes is the largest that has gone to an NAIA national outdoor meet in Coach Drew Ludtke's five years at USF.