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FAIRFAX, Va. – The national spotlight awaits for John Seals.

The George Mason junior makes his NCAA Division Indoor Track and Field Championships debut on Friday in College Station, Texas. Seals is one of just 16 participants competing in the heptathlon, which begins at 1 p.m. (EST) on Friday at Gilliam Indoor Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M.

The seven-event heptathlon will span two days and conclude at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday with the 1,000-meter run. Live results can be accessed by clicking here. ESPN3 will stream the meet live on Friday, starting at 6:25 p.m. and resuming at 4:55 p.m. on Saturday. A re-air of the championship will take place on at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 12 on ESPN2.

"I'm pretty excited to see how it is, what it is like, get the lay of the land," Seals said. "It is a different atmosphere to soak up – that next level of competition. Obviously, I want to go and score as many points as I can. See how it goes, aim for good marks."

The native of Springfield, Va., will be making his first trip to an NCAA Championship – indoors or outdoors. The last time either the George Mason men's or women's track and field team had a representative at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championship was in 2014 when Mandissa Marshall placed eighth in the women's pole vault.

The men's team last had a qualifier in 2013 when David Verburg, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, competed in the 400-meter dash. Verburg, Adrian Vaughn, Angel Coburn and George Empty also finished eighth in the 4x400-meter relay at the 2013 national championships.

Only individuals with the top 16 times or marks – top 12 for relay teams – in the country qualify for the indoor championships. Unlike outdoors, indoors does not have a preliminary championship leading up to the national meet. Seals has twice been on the doorsteps at the NCAA Division I Outdoor East Preliminary rounds in the high jump. He finished 21st as a freshman in 2015 and jumped a personal-best 2.13 meters last year to finish tied for 16th. The top 12 from the preliminaries make it to outdoor nationals.

"That sets the bar," he said. "With that as the goal, you always want to push farther and farther and do your best at each stage."

Heading into this winter, though, reaching the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships was "sort of in the background." With just one heptathlon under his belt prior to this season - and only one decathlon (during outdoors last year) - Seals and multi-events coach Kevin McGorty were cautiously optimistic. For good reason, too, as his first collegiate heptathlon last year set the school record with 5,152 points. But they wanted to see how the first heptathlon of the year unfolded before looking ahead.

At the Patriot Games in January, Seals delivered an impressive performance that planted him in the national hunt. He scored 5,582 points - surpassing his own school and Field House records - and finished in the top two in six of the seven events to win the heptathlon easily. At the time, his score was the fourth-highest in the nation and served as a confidence booster.

"(Reaching nationals) was definitely much, much more attainable after the first one," Seals said. "Going into that one there was definitely talk of trying to qualify the first time around. But definitely the second one was really gunning for it for sure. It is pretty strategic."

A month later, Seals outdid himself at the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships at the Field House. In addition to winning gold medals in the high jump - his third straight A-10 indoor crown in the event - and the 60-meter hurdles, he also captured the heptathlon title with 5,770 points. In doing so, he once again broke his school and program records and set a new A-10 Championships mark. He now has nine A-10 medals between indoor and outdoors (six gold, two silver, one bronze) in just three years.

His gold medal trifecta was magnified by a dominant heptathlon performance in which he won five of the events - 60 meters, 60-meter hurdles, long jump, high jump and pole vault - finished second in the shot put and fourth in the 1,000-meter run. His 30 points contributed heavily to the Mason men's team winning its first A-10 indoor championship. Seals also realized, even with a week before the qualifying window closed, he had punched his ticket to indoor nationals.

"It was such a great feeling," Seals said. "It slowly sinks in. A lot of stuff came together. I was just so happy. You can't ask for anything better. That was a point where a lot of hard work had paid off. A lot of the events, too, like the high jump, are very particular. You can show up on a day and have a great day but the very next day can be iffy. All the stuff I could control – that is the part I am proud of. To do it at the A-10 meet was great. That was an added bonus, having the home crowd cheering me on. That was a huge part to have everybody there with me. And the rest of the team, too, just hitting good marks left and right. Everybody was having a great day."

Heading into nationals, he ranks 11th in the nation with a 5,794 points, which was converted to account for track size. Just by reaching the NCAAs, Seals has earned Honorable Mention All-America accolades from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). As long as he finishes, he'll earn Second Team honors and the top eight finishers receive First Team All-American honors. 

For Seals, the goal heading into this weekend focuses less on the quantitative results but more on optimizing the opportunity. He wants to score at least where he is seeded and aim higher while not letting the moment get the best of him.

"Hit the marks I know I can hit and don't get overzealous and try and win the thing but obviously you want to do as best you can," he said. "If I did as best as I can that might only put me in 11th and then OK. Take the opportunity - I'd say that would be the goal. Just to make the best use of the opportunity as a whole, see what it is like at a national meet. And then take some names and see if I can get in there and get in the top eight. Definitely try and do my best in that isolated competition. Try to beat as many guys as I can. And have some fun, too. The whole thing is just great."