Thirteen Miners will gear up to compete on May 23-25 at the 2019 NCAA West Preliminaries in Sacramento, California.
Kicking off the meet on Thursday will be junior Karol Koncos in the men’s hammer at 1 p.m. MT. The thrower heads into the preliminaries ranked 16 in the west region with a personal-best toss of 65.59m registered at Texas Relays. Koncos posted four top-five finishes this season, including a silver finish at the Conference USA Championships.
Also taking the field for the Miners on Thursday (1 p.m.) will be newcomer Roosa Yloenen in the javelin throw. The freshman competed three times this season and claimed two first-place finishes, including a win at the C-USA Championships.
Yloenen recorded a collegiate-best mark of 50.44m at the Texas A&M Invitational. She heads into the meet ranked 16th in the region.
Closing out the field events on Thursday will be Chantoba Bright in the long jump at 7:45 p.m. The freshman rates 16th with a season-best leap of 6.30m (W: 3.1) set at the UTEP Springtime.
The jumper took bronze at the C-USA Championships with a mark of 6.07m. Bright will also take the field on Saturday in the triple jump at 4 p.m.
On the track, Kimisha Chambers will be the first Miner to compete on Thursday in the 400m hurdles at 5:30 p.m. The transfer claimed the crown at the C-USA Championships, clocking in a time of 59.15. The junior clocked in a personal-best time of 57.82 at the Desert Heat Classic, which earned her the no. 9 spot heading into the regional meet.
Joining her on the track is senior Dreshanae Rolle. The hurdler notched a season-best time of 59.23 at the Desert Heat Classic.
Representing the men’s team in the 400m hurdles (6 p.m.) is Shakeem Smith. The junior continues to improve every time he takes the track. Smith took the crown at the C-USA Championships with a personal-best time of 50.86. He ranks 18th in the west region.
On the sprints side, Sean Bailey is the lone Miner racing in the 400m on Thursday at 8:45 p.m. He heads into the competition as the highest ranked Miner, sitting at third in the west region with a personal best of 45.54 registered at the Desert Heat Classic. The transfer has notched five top-two finishes this season.
Making her last appearance at the NCAA West Preliminaries is senior Lilian Koech. The distance runner has made three appearances at the regional meet and advanced to the NCAA Championships in 2017. The C-USA Champion will take the track in the 800m at 9:10 p.m. Koech will be joined by Carolyne Chepkosgei, who posted a personal-best time of 2:06.45 at the Desert Heat Classic.
Also representing the Miners on the distance side is Winny Koech. The junior missed the 2018 outdoor season, but made an appearance at the NCAA Championships in 2017 in the 10,000m. Koech recorded a personal-best time of 33:35.68 in the 10,000m at the MT. SAC Relays. She also earned two gold medals at the C-USA Championships in the 10,000m and 5,000m. The distance runner will close out the first day of action in the 10,000m at 10 p.m.
Friday’s action will kick off at 1 p.m. with the men’s javelin throw, which will feature Marek Taskar. The freshman notched a season-best mark of 65.24m at C-USA Championships taking silver.
Taking the track on Friday will be Maribel Caicedo in the 100m hurdles (5:30 p.m.). The freshman is making her first appearance at the west preliminaries. Earlier in the year, she clocked in a collegiate-best time of 13.55 at the Desert Heat Classic.
On Saturday, Iason Machairas will take the field in the men’s shot put at 3:45 p.m. The freshman posted six top-five finishes this season and took bronze at the C-USA Championships. He set a collegiate-best throw of 18.45m at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
The top-12 qualifiers of each event will move on to the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships scheduled for June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.
Live streaming of the west preliminaries will be available on flotrack.org. For live results please visit, https://dt8v5llb2dwhs.cloudfront.net/West/index.htm
Schedule
Thursday
Men’s Hammer 1 p.m.
Women’s Javelin 1 p.m.
Women’s 400m Hurdles 5:30 p.m. (First Round)
Men’s 400m Hurdles 6 p.m. (First Round)
Women’s Long Jump 7:45 p.m.
Men’s 400m 8:45 p.m. (First Round)
Women’s 800m 9:10 p.m. (First Round)
Women’s 10,000m 10 p.m.
Friday
Men’s Javelin 1 p.m.
Women’s 100m Hurdles 4:30 p.m. (First Round)
Men’s 400m 6:45 p.m. (Quarterfinals)
Women’s 800m 7:30 p.m. (Quarterfinals)
Women’s 400m Hurdles 8 p.m. (Quarterfinals)
Saturday
Men’s Shot Put 3:45 p.m.
Women’s Triple Jump 4 p.m.
Women’s 100m Hurdles 8:05 p.m. (Quarterfinals)
*The first round (100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 400m, 800m) will consist of six heats of eight competitors. Twenty-four, the top three from each heat plus the next best six times, after tie breaking, will qualify from the first round to the quarter-final round.
