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LOGAN, Utah - A pair of Aggies will be representing Utah State at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Finals, which will be held Wednesday through Saturday, June 10-13, at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Senior Chari Hawkins will compete in the heptathlon, while junior Cole Lambourne will take part in the 400-meter dash.

"It means a lot," Lambourne said of advancing to the Outdoor Finals. "It's been my dream to do that ever since I started track and found out what it was all about, and what Hayward Field was all about. I've always wanted to run there and this is my first chance to do it. It means a lot to me and I've worked hard to get there. I'm excited to go and enjoy myself and see some of the history there and feel the atmosphere."

This is the third-consecutive year Hawkins has competed in the heptathlon in the finals of the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

"She is somewhat nervous that it's her last one, but she's not really saying that or letting on," veteran Utah State head coach Gregg Gensel said. "Just watching her, I can tell she's really excited about what can happen and I know she feels like that because she's been here before and as long as she stays healthy things should go well for her."

Hawkins earned second-team All-American honors in both 2013 and 2014 after finishing 11th and 14th, respectively, in the event. The native of Rexburg, Idaho, would love nothing more than to end her illustrious Aggie career by becoming a first-team All-American.

"I've won second-team All-American before in the heptathlon, but I've yet to get first team and I would love to be able to get that," Hawkins said. "But, if I were to walk away empty-handed and still competed my best and got my best marks, I would be happy. For me, the goal is to just do my best and maybe not take it so seriously this year, just be grateful that I'm there and do my best and hopefully get a great score."

Hawkins and Lambourne are two of 23 Mountain West student-athletes from eight institutions that qualified for the Outdoor Finals, which will conclude on Saturday, June 13.

"I just want to go out and race the competition and put together a good race for me," Lambourne said. "I'm always looking for a personal best and I'd like to, at minimum, make it into the top 16. Overall, I'm just trying to go out and run as hard as I can and everything else will fall into place if I can do that."

If Lambourne makes it into the top 16, he will become a second-team All-American.

Hawkins, the Women's Outstanding Performer of the Meet at the Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships, automatically qualified for the Outdoor Finals in the heptathlon after posting a school-record score of 5,732 points at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 16. She also held the old mark of 5,598 points, which was set at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Finals.

"All she needs to do is what she did to get here, and I think that will happen," said Gensel, when asked what it would take for Hawkins to earn first-team All-American honors. "When she set the school record earlier this year, we weren't really trying to set a school record, we were just trying to get a qualifying mark for the NCAA. I feel like, and I think she feels like, we left a little bit on the table."

Lambourne advanced to his first Outdoor Finals by placing sixth overall in the 400m with a personal-best time of 46.10 seconds in the quarterfinals of the event at the West Prelims on May 29 in Austin, Texas.

"He is really excited and the thing I like about Cole is he understands what it took to get here and what he has to do here," Gensel said. "I think he'll perform pretty well because he kind of knows what to expect."

The first four events of the women's heptathlon will take place on Wednesday, beginning with the 100-meter hurdles at noon (MT), followed by the high jump at 1 p.m., shot put at 3:45 p.m. and 200-meter dash at 5:28 p.m.

Lambourne will also compete on Wednesday in the semifinals of the 400m at 6:30 p.m.

For more information regarding the Outdoor Finals, log on to www.ncaa.com/championships/trackfield-outdoor/d1. Fans can watch Wednesday's action by logging on to http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/id/2578071/NCAA-Outdoor-Track-&-Field-Surround.

Fans can follow Utah State's track & field programs on Facebook at USUTrack.