“You start challenging them when school starts in August, so for us, it’s just really setting up an expectation and working hard to achieve it,” Drenth said. “Those who are advancing have been consistent in their training and they have talent.”

Sophomores Jellisa Westney, Alicia Evans, Jaelynn Pryor and senior Alysson Bodenbach make up the women’s 4×400-meter relay team.

This year marks the first time since 1985 that the relay team qualified for the national meet and Bodenbach said she’s excited to be a part of it.

“It goes back to fall conditioning and even freshman year, I came in as a walk-on and each day you have to continuously prove yourself to get to the next level,” Bodenbach said. “I think from that day forward its been that same journey and now that I’m a senior and going to nationals its no different.”

Caleb Rhynard, one of only three freshman to qualify for the event, said he’s been using the season to learn from his older teammates and it’s paying off for him.

Rhynard qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 5,000 meter-run after posting a time of 14:04:07.

“I’ve gotten tougher, more confident and more willing to take risks,” Rhynard said. “Making it to nationals is pretty amazing, I’m just a freshman so I went to regionals just hoping to do my best and it worked out.”

Although there’s a lot of pride that comes along in making it to nationals, assistant coach John Newell said the team has to keep focused to do well against some of the top athletes in the country.

“Throughout the season, we always keep a focus of where we want to be at this time of year,” Newell said. “We’ve had a good history over the past six years of getting athletes to nationals and it’s a better feeling this year because we have 12 athletes advancing that are going to do very well.”

The 12 members of the team are set to travel to Eugene, Ore., to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 5-8.