Seven women -- juniors Amelia Maher and Victoria Zoller, sophomore Hannah Olson and Kayla Wiltrout, and freshmen Samantha Rivard and Breanna Colbenson -- will represent the University of Minnesota Duluth at the 2014 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships, which get underway this Friday (March 14) at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C. This is the largest contingent the Bulldogs have ever had at a NCAA II track event.

Rivard, a 2013 NCAA II All-American in cross country, will compete in the mile and 3,000-meter run in addition to joining forces with Olson, Maher and Zoller in the distance medley relay. Colbenson will participate in both the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs, Maher in the pentathlon, Olson in the mile and Wiltrout in the pole vault. The six Bulldogs are all making their national track debuts (indoor or outdoor), although Rivard, Olson and Colbenson all ran at the NCAA II Cross Country Championships this past November.

Preliminaries for the mile are set for 3:15 p.m. (EDT) Friday with the finals taking place at 4:10 p.m. the following day. On Friday, finals will be held in the pole vault (4:25 p.m.), 5,000-meter run (6:35 p.m.) and the distance medley relay (7:30 p.m.) while the 3,000-meter finals (6:25) and pentathlon are slated for Saturday.

"I am excited to have this many individuals going to the NCAA II indoors," said UMD head coach Joanna Warmington.  "Making it to nationals is a great accomplishment in itself, but I believe we have the ability to bring home some All-American honors (top eight finishers in each event) and that would be icing on the cake."

The following is a list of participating Bulldogs along their qualifying times/marks and national ranking:

Name                                Event                                Time/Mark                    Nat'l Ranking
Samantha Rivard              Mile                                    4:54.87                        4th
Samantha Rivard              3,000 Meters                     9:40.94                        6th
Breanna Colbenson           3,000 Meters                    9:51.4                         14th
Breanna Colbenson          5,000 Meters                    17:18.4                         17th
Amelia Maher                    Pentathlon                        3,605 pts.                    13th
Hannah Olson                   Mile                                    5:02:37                        34th
Kayla Wiltrout                    Pole Vault                            12'-6"                        14th(t)
                                         Distance Medley Relay        11:53.30                   12th                         

2014 NCAA II Indoor Track and Field Information