Junior Edward Stewart (Kingston, Jamaica), junior Mike Hernandez (Balmorhea, Texas), senior Elizabeth Zaragoza (Dixon, Mo.), sophomore Lucas Manring (Stockton, Mo.) and freshman Edwin Kurgat (Eldoret, Kenya) all earned spots in the finals of their respective events with strong performances in preliminary and semifinal rounds Friday.  "It was a good day," CMU Head Coach Jeff Hoskisson said. "Everyone who we needed to get through to finals did so."

Stewart led the CMU contingent by qualifying for the finals of the 60-meter hurdles. Stewart clocked a preliminary time of 8.37 seconds to earn the 12^th spot in the 12-athlete semifinal round. In the semifinals, Stewart blazed to a CMU school-record and nation-leading time of 7.94 to advance to the finals. Stewart's semifinal time, in addition to bettering his previous school record by .01, was just .01 behind the NAIA National Championships meet record of 7.93 set last year. Stewart will race for the national championship at 11:50 a.m. Saturday. Stewart also ran two rounds in the 60-meter dash Friday, but his time of 6.93 was not fast enough to advance him to the finals.  "Edward ran a great race after problems in the qualifying round," Hoskisson said.

Hernandez just missed his season-best time in the mile run, but advanced to the final in the event with a time of 4 minutes, 17.93 seconds Friday. His season-best is 4:17.63. Hernandez had the eighth-fastest time in Friday's preliminary round. He will race for a top-6 All-American finish in the final at 11:35 a.m. Saturday.

Zaragoza ran a season-best time by nearly two seconds to advance to the final of the women's 800m. She finished in 2:17.07, which was the third-fastest time in the prelims. Zaragoza's previous season-best was 2:18.40. She will try to earn All-America honors in the 800m final, which is scheduled to be run at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.  "Elizabeth ran a very smart race," Hoskisson said. "She did just what she needed to do."

Manring also ran nearly two seconds faster than his previous season-best to qualify for the final of the men's 800m. His time of 1:53.71 was seventh in the prelims. Previously, Manring's season-best was 1:55.63. Manring will aim for a spot on the All-America podium in the final at 12:35 p.m. Saturday.  "Lucas ran the best race of his life," Hoskisson said.

Kurgat finished in a time of 8:45.88 in the men's 3,000m, which was the ninth-best qualifying time to the 12-man final. Kurgat will aim for All-America honors when he races in the final at 1:20 p.m. Saturday.  "Mike and Edwin did what they needed to do," Hoskisson said.

Stewart, Hernandez, Zaragoza, Manring and Kurgat, will join the men's distance medley relay, and three field-event athletes in action for CMU Saturday on the final day at the National Championships. Sophomore Josh Perry (Linn Creek, Mo.) is scheduled to compete in the men's triple jump at 12:30 p.m., while sophomore Rebeca Barajas (Ashland, Mo.) and freshman Kate Fulton (Branson, Mo.) will compete in the women's high jump, which also begins at 12:30.

Seven other athletes were also in action for CMU Friday. Senior Peter Muldoon (Co Cavan, Ireland), juniors John Lehman (Jefferson City, Mo.) and Josh Vaughn (Fulton, Mo.), and freshmen Maurice Coon (Lakeland, Fla.), Colin Fultz (Munford, Tenn.), Roscoe Robinson (Huntsville, Mo.) and Breanna Hobbs (Kansas City, Mo.) all competed in Friday's action for CMU, but were unable to advance to the finals of their respective events. For a link to complete results from the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships, visit http://naia.cstv.com/genrel/2010IndoorTFChampionships.html.

For more information about Central Methodist University athletics, visit www.centralmethodist.edu/cmathletics. Sign up for eScores at escores.stretchinternet.com to receive score updates via e-mails or text messages.