AUSTIN, Texas - NCAA Preliminary Qualifiers Staci Nelson and Kimsue Grant saw their seasons end at this weekend's NCAA West Preliminary Round in Austin, Texas, as their 23rd- and 37th-place finishes were not enough to advance them to the NCAA Championships.

Each competed in a field of 48, with the top-12 performers advancing to the NCAA National Championships meet set for June 9-12 in Eugene, Ore.

Nelson, the MVC steeplechase champion, ran in Friday's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Her 10:45.16 time put her 23rd in an event won by Silje Fjortoft of Southern Methodist (10:08.20). The 12th place runner, and final NCAA Championships qualifier, ran a 10:23.40. Nelson was able to outrun her 31st pre-meet seeding in the 48-runner field.

The end of the road for Nelson did nothing to diminish her stellar senior season with the Bears. Nelson (Chatham, Ill.) leaves MSU as the fourth all-time steeplechaser (10:35.43 at the Drake relays), and she won the steeplechase title at this season's MVC Outdoor Championships (10:41.96). She garnered all-MVC recognition during the indoor season by finishing third in the 3,000-meter run (9:42.83) at the conference meet, a time that made her MSU's fourth all-time performer in the event. The conference also named her to its Scholar-Athlete Team.

Grant competed in Saturday's triple jump, leaping 39-03.00 and finishing 37th. The first-place finisher, Neidra Covington of TCU, posted a 43-04.50 mark, while the 12th-place finisher advanced with a 42-06.25.

Saturday capped an impressive debut season for the Arlington, Va., native. She became only the sixth Bear freshman to qualify for the preliminaries since the NCAA instituted regional meets in 2003. She is the first triple jumper to qualify since Donavette Martin in 2005. Grant took home all-MVC honors at the indoor conference meet by finishing third in the triple jump (39-06.50). Her personal-best 40-09.50 at the Redbird Spring Invitational (April 24) earned her the NCAA West Preliminary bid.   

The NCAA West Preliminary Round concludes the season for the Track and Field Bears.