Seven members of the Lenoir-Rhyne Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Teams have been selected for the upcoming 2023 NCAA Division II Indoor Championships.

It is the first time since 2012 that members of the Lenoir-Rhyne Women’s Track and Field team will be represented with Alexis Brown and Melody Jones running for the Bears.

Brown, the 2023 SAC Women’s Indoor Freshman of the Year will compete in two events on the short track in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes. The Mableton, Ga. native won both events in the 2023 SAC Indoor Championships over the past weekend with a 7.25 time in the 60-meter sprint and a 24.59 posting in the 200-meter race.

For Jones, the 2023 SAC Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet will participate in the 60-meter hurdles; the sophomore won the event in last week’s SAC Indoor Championships with a time of 8.55.

For the Lenoir-Rhyne Men’s Track and Field team, it is the second-straight season where the Bears will be represented at the national championships and the sixth time in program history.

The 2023 SAC Men’s Indoor Track and Athlete of the Meet Jacob Wadsworth will compete in three events over the weekend. One of the events include the Men’s 4×400-meter relay, which has posted some of the best times across all Division II.

The combined team of Wadsworth, Dario Matau, John Sisson, and Lucas Besong won the event in last week’s 2023 SAC Indoor Track and Field Championships with their time of 3:16.23; all four members will compete for the Bears in next weekend’s championship event.

The senior from Dansville, N.Y. will also compete in a couple of field events with participating in the men’s heptathlon and long jump. Wadsworth finished in first place in last week’s long jump competition at the conference championships with a leap of 7.44 meters.

In addition to the Men’s 4×400-meter relay, Matau will also compete in a couple of short track events in the 60-meter sprint and 200-meter dash. The sophomore won the 200-meter race in the 2023 Indoor Track and Field Championships with a 21.45 result; he finished second in the 60-meter dash with a 6.74 finish.

Trent Davis II will also represent the Bears in the 200-meter dash at next week’s national championships; the junior posted a 22.198 result in last week’s conference championship race, which was good enough for a fourth-place finish.

The 2023 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held in Virginia Beach, Va. with the competition getting underway on Friday, March 10.