Division II Men’s Basketball Championship

Dates and sites: Regional play on campus sites will be March 11, 12 and 14. The Elite Eight is March 22, 23 and 25 in the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Field: Sixty-four teams.

Selection date: March 5.

2005 champion: Virginia Union.

Top contenders: Virginia Union, Fort Hays State, Southern Indiana, Western Washington, Seattle Pacific.

Championship notes: Virginia Union will be looking to become the first repeat champion since Cal State Bakersfield in 1993-1994 ... Fort Hays State reached the No. 1 ranking in the NABC coaches poll for the first time since the 1996-97 season ... Southern Indiana was leading the nation in scoring margin at 19.4 through mid-February ... Western Washington’s Grant Dykstra is the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,735 points ... Seattle Pacific has won seven games this season in which the Falcons have trailed by at least eight points.

Division II Women’s Basketball Championship

Dates and sites: Regional play will be March 10, 11 and 13 at campus sites. The Elite Eight is March 22, 23 and 25 at Summit Arena in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Field: Sixty-four teams.

Selection date: March 5.

2005 champion: Washburn.

Top contenders: Washburn, North Dakota, Drury, St. Cloud State, Emporia State.

Championship notes: Washburn’s Jennifer Harris was the third-leading scorer in the nation, averaging 22.9 points through mid-February ... North Dakota led the nation in rebounding margin (13.6) through mid-February ... St. Cloud State coach Lori Ulferts guided the Huskies to the Elite Eight last year for the first time in her 12 seasons as head coach ...  Emporia State led the nation in scoring (86.1) through mid-February.

Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Dates and site: Indianapolis hosts the finals March 8-11 at the Indiana/Purdue-Indianapolis natatorium.

Field: The meet is open to all competitors who have met the NCAA’s established minimum standard in an event. The number of entries is unlimited; however, no team is allowed more than 18 competitors.

2005 team champion: Drury.

Top team contenders: Drury, Cal State Bakersfield, UC San Diego, North Dakota.

Championships notes: Defending champion Drury features junior Jakub Jiracek, who won two events at last year’s nationals. Sophomores Michael Lewandowski, Ismael Ortiz and Artem Sloudnov also factor into the Panthers’ title plans. After a dual-meet win over state rival Truman in January, Drury coach Brian Reynolds said, “The men’s team is just an awesome group, comparable to our 1999 team and the team we had last year. It’s just a very strong and deep team that I think has got a great chance of doing really big things, just like last year.” The Panthers proved Reynolds right later that week with a 140-103 win over Division I Missouri. Jiracek won three events in that meet ... Cal State Bakersfield freshman Alexi Belyy won three events to help the Roadrunners capture the Pacific Coast Swimming Conference championships. Sean Ogren was named diver of the meet. Piotr Gegotek and Seth Dawson also help make the Roadrunners a national contender ... North Dakota’s Rodrigo Ferreira returns after winning the 100-yard backstroke last year. He set an NCAA record in that event in 2004.

Division II Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Dates and site: Indianapolis hosts the finals March 8-11 at the Indiana/Purdue-Indianapolis natatorium.

Field: The meet is open to all competitors who have met the NCAA’s established minimum standard in an event. The number of entries is unlimited; however, no team is allowed more than 18 competitors.

2005 team champion: Truman.

Top team contenders: Truman, Drury, UC San Diego, North Dakota, West Chester.

Championships notes: Drury beat rival and five-time defending national champion Truman in a January 28 dual meet by a 151-83 count. Freshmen Ashley Gorman and Anita Galic won two events apiece for the Panthers. Lija Kaleps-Clark was the lone event winner for Truman ... Susan Bell won three events to lead UC San Diego to a win in the Pacific Coast Swimming Conference championships ... West Chester’s Tammy Leane is ready to defend her title in the 500-yard freestyle. She won that event and two others in the Golden Rams’ regular-season finale against Bloomsburg.

Division II Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championships

Dates and site: The championships will be March 10-11 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston.

Field: A maximum of 200 student-athletes will compete in the championships. Athletes qualify by reaching the automatic and provisional standards established for each event.

Selection date: The spots remaining in the field after the automatic qualifiers are entered will be filled from the descending-order list of provisional qualifiers February 28.

2005 team champion: Abilene Christian.

Top team contenders: Abilene Christian, Saint Augustine’s, Lincoln (Missouri), Adams State, Central Missouri State.

Championships notes: Abilene Christian seeks its fifth straight title and 13th overall with a championships-seasoned team that features sophomore distance star Nicodemus Naimadu, who already has collected three individual indoor and outdoor titles and two cross country victories in his brief collegiate career. The Wildcats’ roster boasts two other previous indoor or outdoor champions, including three-time winner Yevgen Pash-

chenko, last year’s long jump titlist ... Saint Augustine’s, led by multi-title jumper Fabian Hutchinson and outdoor champion hurdler Unyime Akpan, and Lincoln (Missouri), which returns defending hurdles champ Decosma Wright and poses a threat in the jumps with freshman Wilbert Walker, are the top contenders to snap Abilene Christian’s streak ... Adams State has a strong individual title contender in sophomore Nick Lara, last spring’s outdoor 800 meters champ ... Morehouse junior Keith Moffatt is seeking his third straight indoor high jump crown in Boston.

Division II Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships

Dates and site: The championships will be March 10-11 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston.

Field: A maximum of 200 student-athletes will compete in the championships. Athletes qualify by reaching the automatic and provisional standards established for each event.

Selection date: The spots remaining in the field after the automatic qualifiers are entered will be filled from the descending-order list of provisional qualifiers February 28.

2005 team champion: Saint Augustine’s.

Top team contenders: Lincoln (Missouri), Abilene Christian, Saint Augustine’s, Adams State, Grand Valley State.

Championships notes: Lincoln (Missouri) said goodbye last spring to a senior class that claimed a total of four team championships, including the 2004 indoor title. But a look at this winter’s performance charts sees the Blue Tigers well-represented — and this year underclassmen are leading the way. Freshman Davita Prendergast is especially noticeable on that list with impressive times in the 200- and 400-meter dashes, but Lincoln also retains some experience in senior Kelly Marshall, a winner last spring in the outdoor 800-meter run ... Despite Lincoln’s strength, it seems unlikely any team will match Abilene Christian’s past dominance of the championships — including nine team titles during the 1990s — and the Wildcats remain a strong challenger after three runner-up finishes in the past five years. Junior Olha Kryv’yak returns to defend her mile-run title ... Saint Augustine’s won last year’s championships without winning a single event, and is very capable of taking that path again as sophomore sprinter Johnsie Liles and other key contributors from that squad return to Boston ... Grand Valley State is seeking its first top-five finish at the championships behind cross country champion Mandi Zemba, an automatic qualifier in two distance events.