The University of Illinois Springfield track and field teams will make program history on Thursday night in Allendale, Mich. The Prairie Stars will be represented at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships for the first time when Blake Jones and Taryn Christy go to their respective starting lines.
 
Jones and Christy will both compete in the 10,000m races on the first day of nationals on Thursday. The men's race will be at 7:15 p.m. (eastern), followed immediately by the women's race at 7:55 p.m. Jones will also run in the 5,000m competition on Saturday. That race will begin at 3:40 p.m.
 
Jones will compete with 13 other runners in the 10,000m race. He has the 13^th-fastest qualifying time with a mark of 29:14.89. Jones only ran at that distance once this season at the Jim Vargo Invitational, and he finished second overall at the event.
 
Jones has the fourth-best time out of the 16 runners in the 5,000m competition. He had a qualifying mark of 13:46.62. Jones won the 5,000m at the GLVC Outdoor Championships this year, where he was named the GLVC Runner of the Year after also winning the 1,500m.
 
Christy enters the women's 10,000m competition with a qualifying mark of 34:48.34. She is ranked 11^th in the 17-person field. Christy won the GLVC 10,000m event for the second straight championship earlier this month.