INDIANAPOLIS - Five members of the Western Illinois track & field team are set to compete at the NCAA West Regional at the University of Texas from May 23-25

Participating Western Illinois student-athletes will include Dana LaRue (shot put), Jamario Taylor (high jump), Nathaniel Marshall (hammer throw), Glenn Powell (110m hurdles) and Tynan Murray (high jump).

The top 12 competitors in each event at each regional will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the University of Oregon from June 5-8.

Western Illinois' five regional qualifiers are the most for the program since 2009.

LaRue (2011, 2012), Taylor (2012) and Marshall (2012) are all making their second or third trip to the regional, while Powell and Murray will be competing on the national stage for the first time.

Taylor and Murray will be the first to compete, taking part in the high jump on Thursday (May 23) at 6 p.m.

On Friday (May 24), Marshall will compete in the hammer throw at 2 p.m. and Powell will race in the preliminary 110-meter hurdles event at 5:30 p.m., with the finals scheduled for Saturday at 7:20 p.m.

LaRue will round out the Leatherneck competition on Saturday, participating in the shot put on Saturday (May 25) at 6 p.m.

THE BREAKDOWN

WHAT: Western Illinois track & field at NCAA West Regional WHEN: Thursday, May 23 - Saturday, May 25
LOCATION: Austin, Texas (hosted by University of Texas)
VENUE: Mike A. Myers Stadium
LIVE RESULTS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: Click HERE on Thursday, HERE on Friday, and HERE on Saturday.

NOTES

HIGHLY RANKED: On the performance list heading into the NCAA Regional, all five Leathernecks rank in the top 45 out of competitors in their respective events...LaRue ranks 28th in the shot put with a mark of 15.96m...Taylor sits in a tie for 25th in the high jump at 2.13m, while Murray is tied for 42nd at 2.10m...Marshall has the 36th-best mark in the hammer throw at 60.02m...Powell is 42nd in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.33.

SUCCESSFUL CONFERENCE MEET: The Leathernecks earned a total of eight All-Summit League finishes at the Summit League Championships...LaRue (shot put) and Taylor (high jump) each earned a Summit League title, while LaRue also finished second in the hammer throw...Also earning second-place finishes and All-Summit League recognition were Marshall (hammer throw), Powell (110m hurdles), Murray (high jump), Zach Glasebrook (decathlon) and Davin Dollison (triple jump).

REGIONAL SUCCESS: Last year, four Leathernecks competed at the NCAA West Regional...Taylor narrowly missed qualifing for the NCAA Championship, finishing 20th in the high jump by leaping 6-11.25...Nichole Manning, who graduated last year, finished 20th in the pole vault with a mark of 13-02.50...LaRue finished 38th in the shot put and Marshall ranked 45th in the hammer throw.

HOME SWEET HOME: Western Illinois held the 24th annual Lee Calhoun Memorial Invitational this spring...The Leathernecks had a successful meet, as the men finished third out of 20 squads and the women were fifth out of 15 teams.

RECORD HOLDERS: A pair of Leatherneck men currently hold the outdoor program records in their respective events...Michael Castel set the program's top 3,000-meter run mark last year with a time of 8:34.13...Taylor sits in a tie for first place, after clearing 7-00.50 in the high jump during the 2012 outdoor season.

INDOOR ALL-LEAGUE: Western had seven competitors earn All-Summit League honors at the Summit League Championship meet...Jamario Taylor, Nathaniel Marshall, and Dana LaRue all were conference champions...Zach Glasebrook earned a second-place heptathlon finish with a program record points total...Justin Kilpatrick finished second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.92...Talisa Watson added a runner-up finish in the high jump by clearing 5-08.00...Tynan Murray rounded out the all-conference finishers with a clearance of 6-06.00 to finish third in the high jump.