LEXINGTON, Kentucky — Four members of the Mississippi State track and field team secured spots for the NCAA Track and Field Championships on Thursday after the first day of the NCAA East Preliminary round.
Competing against teams from all across the eastern United States, athletes with marks inside the top 12 qualify for the NCAA Championships to square off against the competition out west.
Curtis Thompson and Nicolas Quijera placed second and fourth in the javelin at 73.22m and 68.60m, respectively. Thompson will look to defend his NCAA crown after becoming the first Bulldog javelin champion in 2016. Quijera will make his first trip to Eugene, Oregon, after capturing the Spanish national title last year.
Willie Reed placed sixth in the long jump with a mark of 7.60m. Leah Lott qualified on the women’s side of the long jump, leaping 6.25m for 12th.
In the day’s running preliminary events, six Bulldogs advanced to the quarterfinals. From there, the top 12 marks will qualify for the championships.
Rasheed Tatham ran 52.25 seconds and placed second in his heat of the 400-meter hurdle, finishing 17th and earning a spot in the quarterfinal. Lawrence Crawford qualified in the 100 at 10.34 seconds, while Stephan James ran 47.23 in the 400 to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
Rhianwedd and Ffion Price moved on to the quarterfinal round in the 1,500. Rhianwedd’s time of 4:20.81 was sixth, while Ffion ran 4:23.54 for 19th. Keturah Smith rounded out the Bulldog runners to advance from with a 400 time of 53.86.
“This was a really great start to the weekend,” MSU coach Steve Dudley said. “I am really happy for Curtis, Nico, Willie and Leah, and am proud of all of them for how well they competed in the tough conditions today. It is really easy to see a lot of rain and just chalk it up to a bad day, but our entire team continued battle through it. We had several runners get out of the preliminary round, and they will get the chance to secure their spots at nationals later in the weekend. I am really, really pleased with our performance and can’t wait to see how we compete tomorrow.”
n Ole Miss hammer throwers punch tickets to NCAAs: Ole Miss hammer throwers Dempsey McGuigan and Janeah Stewart qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
McGuigan qualified in the men’s hammer, while Stewart advanced in the women’s hammer. Four more Rebels advanced through to quarterfinals in running events.
McGuigan, an Irish athlete from London, U.K., earned a berth to the national meet for the second-straight year with his eighth-place result. His third and final attempt went 68.57m/224 feet, 11 inches.
In her first NCAA East Preliminary, Stewart advanced in the hammer throw with her 11th-place result and a mark of 59.31m/194-7.
Stewart is the first Rebel woman to make it to the NCAA Championships in the hammer throw since Juliana Smith in 2011.
Three Ole Miss men and one woman made it into the quarterfinals.
Senior Craig Engels was the top qualifier in the 1,500 (3:46.82). Freshman Parker Scott will join Engels in Saturday’s quarterfinals after posting the prelims’ sixth-fastest time of 3:47.86.
In the men’s 800, junior Ryan Manahan was second in his heat to automatically advance to today’s quarterfinals, running a time of 1:50.61.
Sophomore Maddie McHugh made it through the prelims in the women’s 800, running the seventh-fastest time of 2:06.73. She will run in the quarterfinals today.
Other events for the Rebels today will include the women’s discus, men’s pole vault, women’s 200, and men’s and women’s steeplechase.
n Alabama qualifies eight Athletes on first day: Alabama qualified eight athletes for the NCAA Championships and advanced eight more to the quarterfinals.
On the women’s side, junior Danielle McConnell (hammer throw), senior Lakan Taylor (pole vault), senior Quanesha Burks and junior Filippa Fotopoulou (long jump), and freshman Samantha Zelden (javelin) advanced. Men’s qualifiers included senior McLean Lipschutz in the javelin and junior Alfred Chelanga and senior Antibahs Kosgei in the 10,000.
In men’s preliminary round action, senior Robbie Farnham-Rose advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals in the men’s 1,500 meters with a first place finish in his heat in a time of 3:50.06. Junior Tony Brown finished third in his heat and 10th overall in the first round of the men’s 100 in a personal-best and Alabama season-best 10.27 to advance to today’s quarterfinals. Senior Steven Gayle won his heat and finished fourth in the first round of the men’s 400 in 46.35 to advance to today’s quarterfinals.
In women’s preliminaries, freshman Symone Darius (11.31) and Burks (11.44) advanced to today’s quarterfinals in the women’s 100 meters. Darius’ time is a personal-best. Senior Domonique Williams (52.56), freshman Takyera Roberson (53.29), and senior Alex Gholston (53.93) advanced to today’s quarterfinals in the women’s 400.
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