Hope College's Benjamin Pederson will race in the national championship field in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

The junior from Mount Prospect, Illinois (Prospect HS) qualified during preliminaries at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Pederson recorded a time of 9 minutes, 21.04 seconds. He finished sixth in his heat and 14th overall among 20 entrants.

The top five finishers in each of two heats advanced to the finals along with the next four fastest runners.

Pederson will run in Saturday's 11:45 a.m. final.

Principia's Shane Witters Hick topped the fastest preliminary time at 9:17.53.