CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Brandeis University sophomores Emily Bryson (Quincy, Mass./No. Quincy) and Doyin Ogundiran (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West) punched their tickets to the 2017 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships last night at the MIT Last Chance Qualifier Meet.

Bryson will be making her fifth appearance at an NCAA Championship meet in two years at Brandeis, as she has qualified in the 1,500-meter run. Bryson won last night's event handily with a time of 4:31.28, setting a personal best by more than four seconds. Her time is ranked ninth in Division III headed into the championships. Bryson will be making her first appearance at the outdoor meet, having competed twice at the NCAA cross country championships and twice at the indoor championships, where she finished in ninth-place in the mile run this past winter, just out of All-America status. Bryson is a two-time All-American in cross country.

Ogundiran will be making her first-ever trip to the NCAA Championships thanks to a fantastic performance in the 800-meter run. She finished in third place in an event won by a Division I runner with a lifetime best time of 2:11.48, lowering her personal-best time by nearly three-and-a-half seconds. Ogundiran was just 0.38 seconds shy of a school record that has stood since 1992. The time was the 14^th-fastest in Division III this season.

The duo will be joined at the NCAA Championship by men's senior Irie Gourde (Portland, Ore./York School, Canada), who will compete in the 400-meter dash. Gourde posted the 11^th-fastest time in Division III this season at the University Athletic Association championships, when he finished in second place with a time of 47.82 seconds. He is also ranked 42^nd nationally in the 200-meter dash, but is not expected to be competing in that event, as only the top 20 men (and 22 women) earn berths to the NCAA Division Outdoor Championships.

The 2017 NCAA Division III Championships will be held from Thursday, May 25 through Saturday, May 27, at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio, hosted by the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and the University of Mount Union.

Bryson will run her preliminaries on Thursday at 2:30 p.m., while Gourde's prelims are at 3:00 p.m. and Ogundiran is at 3:45 p.m. on Friday. Saturday finals are at 12:25 (1,500m), 1:10 (400m) and 1:50 (800m).

The full NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships web site is available at http://www.clevelandsports.org/ncaa.