NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Three Vanderbilt women’s track and field participants - high jumper Josie Hahn, high hurdler Amanda Mullins-Hall and thrower Vensherrie Campbell - will attempt to qualify for the national championships later this week at the NCAA Mideast Regionals in Columbus, Ohio.

Qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships has been a difficult task for Commodore athletes in recent years. The last Vanderbilt participant was 400-meter hurdler Amanda Helberg in 2000.

Campbell, a junior from Hephzibah, Ga., and Mullins-Hall, a freshman from Cincinnati, will compete in trials Friday, while Hahn, a sophomore from Clinton, Tenn., is scheduled to compete Saturday.

Qualifying for the NCAAs will be a tough task for Mullins-Hall, who returns to compete in her home state as the holder of Vanderbilt’s outdoor record in the 100-meter hurdles. She set the record with a 13.51 effort that captured the Vanderbilt Invitational in mid-April.

Mullins-Hall, ranked 11th among the 40 competitors in the 100-meter hurdles, may need a new school record simply to advance into the regional finals. The field includes eight sub-13.40 runners, including 2002 NCAA champion Perdita Felicien of Illinois and her closest rival, recent SEC champion Lolo Jones of LSU.

Campbell is entered in both the hammer and discus with qualifying marks of 169’7” and 153’05”, respectively. She currently holds the Vanderbilt hammer record and is second all-time in the discus. Both performances resulted in wins at the 2003 Vanderbilt Invitational.

Hahn is the only one of the trio who enters the Mideast Regionals assured of competing in the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She qualified on the strength of a 5,327-point, runnerup performance in the heptathlon at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships earlier this month. The seven-event heptathlon is not contested at the NCAA regionals.

Hahn qualified for the high jump competition after winning the Vanderbilt Invitational with a leap of 5’8”. To have a chance at qualifying for the national championships, Hahn will need to exceed her outdoor school record of 5’9.25” set last year. The competition includes several national caliber competitors, including Ohio State two-time All-American Tami Smith and the SEC’s two best jumpers, Jessica Johnson of Arkansas and Janet Crawford of Kentucky.

The Commodores’ lone national champion came in women’s track and field. In 1997, Ryan Tolbert captured the NCAA 400-hurdles with a time of 54.54. She also finished second in the event in 1996.

The competition is scheduled this Friday and Saturday at famed Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University.