Nine select student-athletes for the Texas A&M University -Commerce men's indoor track &field team made the pilgrimage to Birmingham, Alabama earlier this week to compete in the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships taking place this weekend.
Sophomore Dexter Lee headlined the group of qualifying athletes as the only Lion to receive the nod for multiple events. Lee ran the 16th fastest time in the 400 meter dash with a first-place finish at the Lone Star Conference Championship with a time of 48.21 seconds. In addition, Lee and the rest of the A&M-Commerce 4x400 relay team will be making the trek to the Yellowhammer State, thanks to a 3:13.65 time at the LSC Championship, for yet another first place finish. Lee's teammates are seniors John David Rollins and Ravi Dubose, as well as freshman Soren Gnoss. Their performance was the tenth fastest in Division II.
The Lions will be most heavily invested in the heptathlon at the meet, as they will send not one, but two athletes to compete at the national meet. Senior Matt Rich earned the Lions' only automatic qualifier of the season with score of 5308 points at the MSSU Lion Open, hitting multiple personal-bests in individual events in the process. Rich would go on to win the LSC Championship in the event last weekend. His sophomore teammate Hendrik Nungess has been right on Rich's heels all season, and will also travel to Alabama in search of national acclaim. The native of Germany finished right behind Rich, scoring a personal best 5133 points at the LSC Championship for a second-place finish. Rich's mark stands as the seventh-best mark in the country, while Nungess ranks 14th.
A&M-Commerce will send an athlete in each of the throwing events, as well. Senior Masoud Moghaddam broke the LSC record in the weight throw on the first throw of his A&M-Commerce career, and proceeded to do so for three meets in a row before finally settling at 20.40 meters at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational, which won the event outright against Division I competition. Moghaddam went on to handily win the LSC Championship, and his career-high mark currently stands as the sixth best distance in Division II. His teammate, Tyler Rambo, will compete for the Lions in the shot put. The junior was having a solid year leading up to the LSC Championship, but in Lubbock, Rambo unfettered himself with a huge toss of 17.26 meters to win the event. Rambo currently stands at tenth overall in the country.
Last, but certainly not least, Devontae Steele will be one of two freshmen boarding the bus to Alabama thanks to his prowess in the triple jump. Steele forced his way onto the national scene after utterly exenterating the competition at last weekend's LSC Championship thanks to a distance of 15.40 meters, the second-best mark in the nation. Steele's performance was just three one-hundredths of a meter of becoming the top distance in all of Division II.
The NCAA Indoor Championships will be hosted by the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Alabama. The meet is scheduled to begin Friday, March 13 and run through its conclusion on Saturday, March 14. Competition will begin Friday morning with the 60 meter dash portion of the heptathlon, and run through Saturday evening with the final event of the meet, the 4x400 meter relay.