David Brown, a junior from Chelmsford, Mass., was added to the 800 meters field for the NCAA Championship Thursday through Saturday at Colorado State-Pueblo University's Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.

Brown joins UMass Lowell's seven individuals and two relay teams who earned qualification throughout the season. The River Hawks are scheduled to fly to Pueblo, Colo. Tuesday morning.

The 800 meters preliminary is scheduled for Friday at 8:15 p.m. while the final is slated for 9:05 p.m. (Mountain Time) Saturday night.

Brown had originally missed the cut, coming in at No. 21 on the NCAA Division II list with his personal-best time of 1:51.03 (run May 11 at the New Balance Boston Twilight Meet at Bentley University). Brown's time was 0.01 seconds off the top 20, just behind Paul Pape of Nebraska Kearney (1:51.02), but he gained acceptance when a higher seed withdrew.

“We're thrilled for Brownie. It's a tough thing when you come within 1/100^th of a second of going to nationals, but that speaks to this year's 800 meters field,” said head coach Gary Gardner. “Places seven through 20 aren't even separated by one seconds, so anything can happen. The goal as always is to concentrate on the preliminary and get to the final.”

Enjoying a stellar season, Brown earned All-American honors at the NCAA indoor championship as a member of UMass Lowell's distance medley relay team which placed fifth in 9:53.96. He ran the 1,200 meters in 3:02.77.