COLUMBUS, Mo. - Indiana State freshman Kylie Hutson and senior Paladin Jordan were automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships following the final day of competition in the Mid-East Regional being held at the University of Missouri Saturday.

Hutson, a graduate of Terre Haute North High School, finished fourth in the women's pole vault, setting a school outdoor record of 12-feet-11.75-inches (3.96 meters), but it wasn't easy for the freshman. Hutson tied for fourth in the competition that lasted over five hours due to a rain delay and then had a jump off with two other competitors since only the top five automatically qualify for the NCAA championships.

"It is every freshman's dream to qualify for at least one of the NCAA championships," Hutson said. "But to make both the indoor and outdoor championships is just unbelievable. I'm awestruck and really tired after the jump off. This is just amazing."

Hutson tied with Eastern Michigan freshman Janice Keppler and Akron junior Crystal Goldsmith for the fourth spot. Keppler won the jump off but Hutson earned the fifth and final automatic berth by finishing second in the jump off. Arkansas senior Jodi Unger won the event with a vault of 13-feet-3.75 (4.06 meters).

Melissa Ullenbruch had the school record of 12-feet-10 (3.91 meters) which was set in 2004.

Hutson, who finished 15th in the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this year, may not be the only qualifier from the ISU women's team as senior Santia Spight and freshman Erica Moore will have to wait for the field to be set on Tuesday.

Spight was seventh in the high jump on Friday while Moore finished 11th in the 400 meter hurdles. The top five finishers automatically qualify for the NCAA championships with the next seven placers going into a pool for each event. Additional qualifiers will be named from this pool based on their best performance of the season. Moore, from Sullivan, Ind., is also ranked seventh in the Mid-East Region and 32nd nationally in the heptathlon, which is not competed on the regional level. She is in the pool for that event.

Jordan finished fourth in the 400 meter hurdles finals to advance to the NCAA Championships. Jordan's time was 51.56 with Isa Phillips, a senior from Louisiana State University, won the event with a time of 49.68. Rueben McCoy, a junior from Auburn, was second in 50.37 with Jason  Brohow, a junior from Western Kentucky third in 41.04.

"Jordan probably would have done a little better in the triple jump but he rushed to get his jumps in and had a big race coming up (the hurdles)," said John McNichols, ISU men's coach. "He got off to a good start in the 400 hurdles, had a little trouble on a corner but had a strong finish. He ran his way into the NCAA Championship field."

In the triple jump competition today, Indiana State senior Corey Dowden finished ninth overall with a leap of 50-feet-3.25 (15.32 meters) while Jordan finished 13th at 49-feet-7.75 (15.13 meters).

Kurt Heimann ran in the finals of the 800 meters and finished ninth with a time of 1`:51.30 while Sean Bowman competed in the 3000 meter steeplechase and finished in 19th with a time of 9:16.76.

The 4x400 meter relay team of Logan Edwards, Bryant Kent,  Kurt Heimann and Sean Wright finished second in their heat and seventh overall in the competition with a time of 3:09.49.

Several members of the Indiana State men's team will be waiting for the official list from the NCAA after being in the top 12 but not in the top five. Sean Wright was 10th in the 400 meter preliminaries on Friday, Heimann ninth in the 800 meter finals today, Dowden who was ninth in the triple jump today and the 4x400 relay team will have to wait to see if they receive an invitational to the NCAA championships.

LSU won the men's team title with 70 points with Auburn second with 55 , Louisville third with 50 and Tennessee fourth with 49 points. Indiana State was 25th with seven points.

LSU also won the women's team title with 112 points. Arkansas was second with 77, Michigan third wiht 63 and Tennessee fourth with 43. Indiana State finished 27th with six points.