MARION, Ind. - Jenson Starr has been a regular representative for William Woods University Owls men's cross country at nationals, and on Wednesday, he has a new and fun chance to compete in the 10,000-meter run at the 73rd Annual NAIA Men's Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. The entirety of the meet can be streamed live on the NAIA Network.

Starr will run in the 10k final at 8:10 p.m. CST on Wednesday.

To get the opportunity to take the starting line against the NAIA's best 10k runners, Starr, on the third and final time of asking, did exactly what's in the meet's name, USF Fighting Chance Invite, by taking advantage of his fighting chance and hitting the NAIA "B" Standard to qualify for nationals with a personal record time of 30 minutes and 51.17 seconds (Prev. PR: 31:23.85).

"For years I've known my best chance to qualify for anything in track would be the 10k, so I have," Starr said. "I used all of indoor as a building block to prepare for outdoor, and with a few months of up and down races, it was sometimes tough to believe it would all come together at the end of outdoor. You can't race many 10ks in a season and expect to be fresh with how much they beat your body up, so I only had three real chances to hit the standard. But it did all come together this last month of the season, where every race I've had has been the best of my life. Got it at last chance when I was still unsure that I actually would, and now I've been nothing but excited to race my first indoor or outdoor track nationals on Wednesday."

Starr is seeded 24th out of 25 competitors, with his 30:51.17 being 18.35 seconds off the projected All-American top eight.

"I am seeded 24th/25th in the 10k, so there is absolutely no pressure," Starr said. "I do not care about a time goal; nationals is about racing people, and I just want to do that. Top half of the field would be great, but I just want to be proud of the effort I put out and whatever happens happens."

Whatever happens this year, Starr is confident he can build off it and improve on it next year.

"I will be back next year for one last year," Starr said. "I want to enjoy the experience this year, perform well, and use it as more motivation to catapult myself into All-American contention next year."

Starr will run on the track at Wildcat Stadium, where the NAIA outdoor track and field national championships will be held for the third straight year.

"Not trying to toot my own horn, but I have worked so hard to get here," Starr said. "Every decision I make has been 'Does this help me get faster or not?' And, I've based my life the last couple years on that. I haven't been healthy for more than six months at a time, and I've finally strung together a year of health thanks to coach Bob Jones really getting me going in the weight room, and it's been the best year of running by a long shot. So big thanks to all my coaches, but coach Jones has really helped fill in the gaps that I didn't know I really needed."