By Andrew Korba

Senior Michael Simmons finished fifth in his heat to qualify for the finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA III Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday night at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

The top five from each heat, plus the next four best times advanced to the finals, which will be run on Saturday at 3:10 p.m. (EST).

"Michael handled his first experience at the championships extremely well," said head coach Jason Maus. "He ran a very clean and smart race and made his moves when he needed to put himself in a comfortable position."

Simmons crossed the finish line in 9:06.96.

His time was the ninth fastest in the field of 20 runners.

Simmons owns the school record in the steeplechase and was .85 seconds shy of breaking his own record of 9:06.11.

"We will look to use the same strategy on Saturday," Maus added. "I was very impressed with how collected he has been throughout this whole process."