INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee announced Sunday the participants in the 2014 championships and a total of 12 Leopards qualified for the championship meet.

For each men's individual event contested, including the decathlon, the top 20 declared student-athletes were accepted into the competition. For each women's individual event contested, including the heptathlon, the top 22 declared student-athletes were accepted into the competition. For each relay event contested, the top 16 declared relay teams, one per institution, were accepted into the competition.

Headlining the meet for La Verne will be national championship contenders Chancise Watkins and Lenore Moreno.

Watkins is a top-three seed in the 200 meters, the 400 meters and the 4x100 relay and at one point, held the season's top time in all three events. Watkins still ranks first in the 400m with a time of 47.25 seconds, which he clocked at the 2014 SCIAC Championships. He is seeded third in the 200m (21.14), but only a tenth of a second behind the top seed Bruce Gray of Greenville (Ohio). The 4x100 relay team of Watkins, Nick Gonsalves, James Francis and Robert Oshodin became the first quartet in the country to break the 41-second mark (40.84) in the nation this season after a winning performance at the SCIAC Championships, but currently ranks second after a Baldwin Wallace (Ohio) team ran a 40.61 last weekend.

Just from a look at the seed times, Moreno is the heavy favorite in the women's 10,000 meters. Moreno's mark of 33 minutes, 49.04 seconds set at the Stanford Invitational in April is the third fastest time in Division III history and is more than 90 seconds faster than the second seed Alyssa Poremba of Elmhurst (Ill.). Moreno is seeded third in the 5,000m (16:28.26), but she is the national champion in the indoor 5,000m and only three seconds separate the top three runners.

Two La Verne women qualified for field events. Katie Yeager, the 2012 SCIAC Champion in the pole vault, ranks 16^th in the country in the event with a clearance of 12 feet, 2 inches (3.71m), which she posted at the Redlands Final Qualifying Meet this weekend. This will be Yeager's third appearance in the national championships.

Deanna Doss, a senior, will make her first trip to the nationals. Doss unleashed a toss of 175-05 (53.46m) in the hammer throw at the SCIAC Multi-Dual No. 3 and go in to the championship seeded ninth.

Matt Rehder will represent the La Verne men in the javelin throw. The two-time SCIAC Champion recorded a toss of 199-05 (60.79m) at the national championships to seed 12^th. This will be Rehder's second appearance in the national championships.

The women's 4x100 relay team of Ebony Williams, Tiahna Gillon, Tanesha Spencer and Nicole Crutchfield also qualified. The quartet ran a winning time of 47.77 at the SCIAC Championships and is ranked 14^th.

The championships will be held May 22-24 at Ohio Wesleyan in Delaware, Ohio.