Sunday, May 22, 2011

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - The NCAA today released its qualifiers for the NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Track & Field Championships and one Westminster College athlete will be going to the national meet which will be held May 26-28 at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.

Junior Ryan Bell (New Wilmington, Pa./Wilmington) automatically qualified in the javelin. He is seeded seventh in the country with a throw of 64.87 meters. Lars Tenglin of North Park owns the nation's best throw entering nationals at 67.46 meters.

Bell is the second Westminster men's track and field athlete to qualify for the NCAA meet since Westminster joined the NCAA in 2002-03. The other men's qualifier was discus thrower Adam Hadbavny in 2006.

The javelin throw is scheduled to start on Saturday, May 28 at 3 p.m.

Westminster had two other men's and women's track and field athletes with provisional qualifying standards, junior discus thrower Emily Dolsak (McDonald, Ohio/McDonald) and sophomore pole vaulter Mark Saylor (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex), but they missed the cut.

About Westminster College...
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College ranks first in the nation as "Best College for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math," according to Forbes.com. Westminster is a top tier liberal arts college, a national leader in graduation rate performance, and a "Great School, Great Price," according to U.S. News Best Colleges guide. Westminster ranked 38th among liberal arts colleges, according to the Washington Monthly College Guide, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 373 Colleges" and "Best in the Northeast" by The Princeton Review, and is named to the President's Honor Roll for excellence in service learning.

Nearly 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty while choosing from 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa., campus. Visit www.westminster.edu/advantage to view "Advantage: Westminster" A Strategic Plan 2010-2020.