WHAT'S AHEAD: The last time a Drake woman competed in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Gina DeWitt came away with All-American honors by finishing fifth in the 800-meter run in 1996.

Drake junior Ari Curtis (Fort Collins, Colo.) hopes history will repeat itself when she competes in the women's 400 hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships starting Wednesday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Curtis is scheduled to run in the semifinal round at 9 p.m. Central Time Wednesday. The top four finishers from each heat will compete in the finals slated for 7 p.m. Friday.

All four days of the NCAA Track and Field Championships consist of only semifinal and finals as the top 24 athletes in each event will compete.

A LOOK BACK: Ari Curtis finished sixth overall in the semifinal round of the women's 400 hurdles at the NCAA West Regional last Friday in Austin, Texas, being clocked in a school-record performance of 57.98 seconds.  Curtis led through the first nine hurdles in her second heat before finishing second.

It marked the fourth time Curtis has lowered the school record in the 400 hurdles this spring. This time around she bettered her previous school mark of 58.27 set at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship May 14.

RESULTS: Live results from the NCAA Championships will be available on the NCAA's web site, www.ncaa.com.

TELEVISION/WEB CAST: CBS will televise the final two hours of the meet live from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. CBS College Sports will have a live broadcast window on Friday from 7-9 p.m. In addition, other than when CBS/ CBS College Sports is on the air, there will be a live web cast of the championships available at www.NCAA.com.