This coming weekend, two Engineer track & field members will be competing at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. Both junior Kemar Brown and senior Felecia Tsai have made it through rigorous qualifying rounds and will now represent Rensselaer at the 2006 nationals attempting to break into the top eight and earn All-American status.

Brown’s time of 6.46 seconds qualified him in the 55-meter dash at the ECAC Championships last weekend in Pennsylvania. The four-time Liberty League Performer of the week will take on 14 other sprinters this week.

Tsai’s school record weight throw toss of 15.96 meters at the New York State Championships during February qualified her for the D-III championships. On Friday she will take on 13 others from across the country in the weight throw.

Last weekend’s ECAC championships at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Penn., were a slight disappointment for the men’s track & field team who this spring will vie for a five-peat in both the league and state titles. Although the men, with 42, had six more teams in their division than the women, both teams finished 16 in their fields.

In a season-high performance, junior Sue Madden finished second in the shot put with a throw of 12.48 meters and was named the Field Performer of the week for the Liberty League.

RPI had several other individuals with respectable finishes, including two third-place finishes by junior Greg Mariano in the 1,000 meters (2:35.83) and the women’s 4x400-meter relay (4:10.20). Finishing for a fourth, senior Jason Legault vaulted to a height of 4.4 meters. Brown’s 6.46 second sprint was good enough to qualify for nationals, but only earned him a fifth place spot this weekend.

Also contributing in the 400-meter dash, was junior Jen Dias turning in a time of 59.84 seconds to earn eighth place. Another eigth place went to freshman Chris Donais for his endurance in the 3,000-meter run this past weekend.

The outdoor season starts right away on April 1 when the Hawks host Springfield and Westfield State at the Harkness Field. Then on the eighth, the teams travel to take on WPI in the Engineer’s cup.