Pueblo, Colo. - Southwest Baptist University had a successful day one at the NCAA Track & Field National Championships on Thursday in Pueblo. Both Bill Shell and Trenton Morris were able to make it through pre-lims, qualifying for finals in their individual events.

Starting things off for the Bearcats was Trenton Morris in the men's 1500 meter. Morris placed third in his heat in a time of 4:00.65, automatically qualifying him for finals. Morris goes into Saturday's final ranked 10th out of 12 runners.

Next up was Bill Shell in the men's 400 meter. Shell took home the victory in his heat in a time of 46.32. Shell's time is a new SBU school record, and ranks him 4th out of 9 runners heading into Saturday's final.

In the women's 100 meter dash, Corie Chuning took 21st overall in a time of 12.03. On the men's side, Deneko Brown placed 16th overall in a time of 10.43.

In the final event of the day for SBU, Phillip Miller took 13th overall in the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase, missing qualifying for finals by only one place.

Trenton Morris will compete in the finals of the 1500 meter run on Saturday, May 25 at 6:45 p.m. while Bill Shell will compete in the finals of the 400 meter dash at 7:25 p.m. on the same day.