ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico--Zachaeus Beard has made a major impact in his first season on the Northwestern State track & field team.

Now he has a chance to make his mark on a national stage, as he qualified for the 2023 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in the 60-meter dash.

The championships take place on March 10-11.

Beard, a senior from Fellowship, Louisiana, is a transfer from Langston of the NAIA. In his first race as a Demon, posted a blistering 6.54 time in the Corky Classic prelims, which is tied for sixth-best time collegiately and earned him a spot in the nationals.

He is coming off a fourth-place finish at the Southland Conference Indoor Championships this past weekend.

The last indoor individual national champion was Jasmyn Steels in 2019 in the long jump.