Geneva, Ohio – The University of Lynchburg outdoor track & field teams kicked off the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships with four athletes advancing to their respective final rounds from prelims.

Despite maneuvering rainy weather with temperatures drifting into the 50s, every Lynchburg athlete seeded in the top ten of an event advanced to the next round.

Thursday, May 22

Tor Hotung-Davidsen and Sam Llaneza eased their way into the men's 1,500m finals as two of the top three seeds in the field.

In heat one, Hotung-Davidsen clocked 3:53.16 to finish second in the section and advance to the finals. With the top four from each heat automatically qualifying for Saturday, the grad student tactically lingered in the back of the pack before erupting in the final two laps. Hotung-Davidsen closed the final 400m in 55.64 seconds to advance into second.

Llaneza used a similar game plan in heat two, finishing third with a 3:51.74 to qualify. Llaneza ran a 58-second final lap despite his field moving considerably quicker than heat one.

Hotung-Davidsen and Llaneza are the only two athletes in Division III history to clock a sub-four-minute mile in the outdoor track season. While their best 1,500m times come from the Bryan Clay Invitational in mid-April, the pair's times have continued to trend positively throughout the season.

Later in the evening, Cooper Hurst maneuvered wet conditions on the track for the men's 3,000m steeplechase prelims, earning 16th place with a 9:06.34 result. Hurst will be the final athlete who receives Second-Team All-America honors by finishing inside the top 16. The senior finished second in the second heat of the event.

Allison Dell capped night one with a 35:36.14 performance in the women's 10,000m final, placing 13th in the field.

With two athletes quickly separating from the pack within the first lap, Dell maintained her position in the chase pack with consistent splits throughout the first 5,000 meters. Despite several athletes surging in the latter half of the race, the senior stuck inside the top 16 and stayed in 13th throughout the final mile.

Friday, May 23

Three performances on Friday resulted in qualification for finals, while Jamarcus Brown solidified the first All-American performance for the men's team in the high jump.

In the final appearance for his freshman outdoor campaign, Brown cleared 6' 9¾" (2.08m) and finished fifth in the field. He earned the highest finish of any freshman in the event.

At the Lynchburg Sports Awards, Brown was named the Male Rookie Athlete of the Year for 2025. He competed for the Hornets' men's basketball team that posted a 14-13 record, finished sixth in the men's high jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships and fifth for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Betsy Mohnkern advanced to finals in the women's 100m hurdle prelims, guaranteeing the highest finish of her collegiate career at an NCAA Championships event. The grad student posted 14.03, a personal best time by three-hundredths of a second; her time is the seventh-fastest in the field.

In the men's 100m prelims, freshman Tristan Wright solidified his position in Saturday's final after finishing fifth in the 60m dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Wright clocked 10.58 to surge into finals despite finishing third in his section. His time is eighth-fastest in the field. Teammate Jaylen Jones crossed the line in 10.85 to finish 22nd and cap his senior outdoor season.

Sam Llaneza booked his ticket to a second final on Friday afternoon with a 1:52.00 result in the men's 800m prelims. The grad student finished 18-hundredths of a second ahead of Bowdoin's Oliver Brandes to secure the final spot in the final.

On the women's side, Hannah Edwards earned a 2:20.90 result to finish 21st overall in her NCAA Outdoor Championships debut.

On Saturday, the four finalists will compete in their respective events, along with Kacey Kelly in the women's triple jump and Chasen Hunt in the men's 5,000m. The latter pair will compete in events that do not require a preliminary round.

For full results from the first two days, click here.

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--LYN--