PUEBLO – Sophomore Phil Schneider earned his first All-American accolade and the Colorado School of Mines track and field teams advanced four through preliminaries Thursday at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Neta & Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl in Pueblo.

Schneider used a strong kick over the final 2800 meters of the men's 10,000 and captured his first collegiate track and field All-American laurel with a sixth-place time of 30:48.49. He is just the second Oredigger to claim All-American stature in the event and first since Joel Hamilton capped a string of three consecutive All-American efforts in 2008.

Red-shirt freshman Derek Alcorn finished ninth in his first trip to the national meet in 31:03.54; junior Sean Gildea took 10th in 31:20.05 and junior Andrew Epperson was 15th in 32:16.58. Led by national champion Gabriel Proctor of Western State in 30:03.07, the top nine times in the 20-runner field were all under the previous track record of 31:11.05.

In the prelims of the women's 1500, senior Hannah Schuster bettered the facility record and qualified third overall in 4:33.78. Senior Russell Drummond and junior Frank Socha timed the fifth- and sixth-fastest results in the men's heats in 3:58.072 and 3:58.078, respectively.

Senior Tyler Curtis was runner-up in the first heat of the 3000-meter steeplechase prelims, posting the second-fastest automatic qualifying time of 9:20.52.

Curtis will go for his first All-American honor in the steeplechase at 7:35 p.m. Friday, while Schuster, Drummond and Socha return to the track on Saturday for the 1500 finals, beginning at 5:35 p.m.

Junior Seun Ogunmodede makes his outdoor championships debut at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon in the finals of the men's high jump.

Free, live coverage of all the events is available at www.ncaa.com/liveschedule.

DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIP HEADQUARTERS | SCHEDULE OF EVENTS