KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Union College has entries in six events at the upcoming 2009 NAIA Men's Outdoor Track and Field National Championship, the organization announced Saturday.

The championship starts Thursday and concludes Saturday at the Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville.

Of Union's six entries, four are in the Top 8.

Johnnie Nabors (Lawrenceville, Ga.) qualified in two sprint events, the 100-meters and 200. He enters the 100 fifth and fourth in the 200. Nabors is a 2008 All-American in the 100 after finishing fifth with a school record run of 10.55 seconds. In all, he has collected four All-American honors including his 2009 NAIA Indoor 60 championship.

The 100 trials are scheduled for Thursday at 3:50 p.m. with the semifinals Friday at 2:50 p.m. The finals are Friday at 5 p.m. Thursday also has the 200 trials at 6:10 p.m. for Nabors. Saturday will include the 200 semifinals at 3:30 p.m. followed by the finals at 5 p.m.

Andre Thornton (Loganville, Ga.) will look to repeat as an All-American in the 400 meters. The senior qualified thanks to a 47.97 second performance which is the eighth fastest time. Last year he finished third after running 47.32 in the finals.

Thornton takes to the track Thursday at 3:10 p.m. for the trials. The 400 semifinals are scheduled for 3:10 p.m. Friday with a 4:20 p.m. final Saturday.

DeMorrio Leggett (Bardstown, Ky.) leaped to All-American honors during the NAIA Indoor Championship and qualified for the outdoor triple jump. The freshman Leggett covered 47 feet and 7 1/4 inches to earn a trip to Edwardsville. At the indoor championship, he jumped 46 feet and 9 inches.

The triple jump will be contested Saturday starting at 1:30 p.m.

Union also has a pair of relay teams, the 400 and 1,600, qualified. The program record 1,600-relay time of three minutes and 17.77 seconds was set at the 2009 Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship in April to qualify. At last year's championship, Union set the school record in the 400 relay after finishing at the 40.93 second mark. Union's time in the 400 relay is 41.57 seconds which ranks 11th.

The 400 relay trials will be ran Thursday at 1:20 with Friday's semifinal at 4:05 p.m. The finals are Saturday at 2:50 p.m.

The 1,600 relay semifinals are on Friday's schedule at 8:35 p.m. and the finals conclude the championship Saturday at 6:05 p.m.

Nabors, Thornton, Leggett, Marekus Smith (Lithonia, Ga.), Johnny Barnes (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and Scotty Barnes (Ewing, Va.) will be used in the relay events.

For more championship information, click here.

For the complete entry list, click here.

For the championship schedule, click here.