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Mar. 10, 2010-- With five athletes competing across five events at this weekend's NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships in Greencastle, Ind., the theme for the North Central College women's track & field team is experience and consistency. All five athletes were a part of last year's contingent that emerged from Indoor Nationals with a sixth place showing, the Cardinals highest finish at the meet since 1999.

The importance of sending a veteran crew to this meet is not lost on assistant coach Mahesh Narayanen. “We have three captains going and we have an experienced lineup, it makes a difference at this meet. Typically speaking you need poise and maturity,” he said. Stressing the importance of consistency, Narayanen notes, “We haven't had too many high or lows. We have been very consistent in practice and competition.”

Leading the way is Rachel Secrest, who makes her fourth and final trip to Indoor Nationals and will look to be one of the favorites, having won the National Title in the pole vault both indoors and outdoors in 2009. Secrest finished one-place shy of earning All-Americans honors as a freshman, placing ninth in 2007 before finishing runner-up in 2008. Secrest cleared 12 feet 8 inches at the 2009 championships, winning the National Title over Anna Heim of Moravian College (Pa.) on the tiebreaker after clearing the height on her first attempt. The senior heads into this weekend with the second best mark in the country, having cleared 13 feet 2 ¼ inches at the Warhawk Classic on Feb. 6. Secrest has performed on a consistent level almost all season, hitting the provisional or automatic qualifying standard in each of her last six meets, including at the CCIW Championships on Feb. 26 where she claimed her second consecutive conference title in the event. The pole vault competition begins at 10 a.m. (Eastern) on Saturday.

Also making her final trip to the Indoor Championships is Brandye Jackson. This will be Jackson's third appearance at the national meet, earning All-American accolades in the 55-meter hurdles in both 2008 and 2009. The senior finished seventh at the Championships in 2008 before placing sixth in 2009. Jackson has peaked at the right time for the Cardinals, clocking her best time of the season last weekend at the Pointer Last Chance Qualifier, winning the hurdles in 8.28 seconds, a time that is currently the sixth fastest in the nation. Jackson's quest for her third straight indoor All-American honor begins on Friday at 4:50 p.m. (Eastern) with finals being contested on Saturday at 2:35 p.m. (Eastern).

Making her second trip to the big stage is Lauren Brightmore, looking to earn All-American honors for the first time in her career. At the 2009 Championships, the junior finished 14th overall in the 400-meter dash, competing in a preliminary heat that featured three top five finishers. The experience paid dividends for Brightmore who gained valuable insight in the level of competition.

“It makes you really aware of a heightened level of competition (at Nationals),” she said. “Now I know what I am getting into.”

Brightmore qualifies in the 400-meters again after clocking a 57.40 at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championships, finishing runner-up to Illinois Wesleyan University's Ali McCoy, who currently holds the second fastest time in Division III. Brightmore's time is currently the eighth fastest heading into this weekend and has the second fastest seed time in her preliminary heat. The 400 preliminaries begin at 5:15 p.m. (Eastern) on Friday with the finals contested on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. (Eastern).

Michelle Criscione makes her third appearance at Indoor Nationals, showing steady improvement each of the last two years. The junior finished 15th in the high jump as a freshman at the national meet before placing fifth in 2009 after clearing 5'3 ¼”, earning All-American accolades for the first time in her career. Criscione heads to Greencastle with the seventh best mark in Division III after clearing 5'6 ½ at the First Meet Ever on Jan. 22. Criscione has been a model of consistency this season, hitting the provisional qualifying mark three times this season, including on Feb. 27 at the CCIW Championships, winning her third straight high jump title. The junior will be the first Cardinal in action this weekend, with the high jump getting underway on Friday at 4 p.m. (Eastern).

Melissa Savino makes a return trip to Indoor Nationals in the pentathlon after finishing 10th in the inaugural competition in 2009. Savino amassed a school record 3,154 points at the national meet last season and will look to improve upon that mark this season. The junior scored 3,142 points at the CCIW Championships, finishing runner-up and earning a spot at the national meet where she holds the 17th best point total. Despite competing in the pentathlon only twice this season, the junior has shown consistent improvement in all five event areas, placing third in the 55-meter hurdles and eighth in the high jump at the CCIW Championships.

Projections of team scores based on the national performance list have the Cardinals placing 13th with 13.5 points. Defending Champion Wartburg College (Iowa) is the projected winner with 47 points followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (32.5 points) and The College of New Jersey (26 points). CCIW-rival Illinois Wesleyan University is projected to place eighth with 20 points.

“Everybody has a chance to do well and everybody has a chance to score. If we have five people, 12 people or 25 people, we all feel it's a team meet,” said Narayanen. Echoing the team sentiment was Brightmore who added “We're all really excited about it; we feed off each other's energy during the meet.”

The 2010 NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships get underway on Friday at 9 a.m. (Eastern) inside the James A. Hollensteiner Track on the campus of DePauw University and conclude on Saturday. Live video coverage of all the action can be found here.