The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, has developed a steppingstone meet for athletes headed to the national meet - the Prelim meet. It is basically an opportunity for more people to experience a national track meet atmosphere. In the 2 prelim meets (West prelim in Austin and the East prelim in Lexington, KY this year), the NCAA takes the top 48 accepted athletes in every individual event, except the decathlon and heptathlon, plus the top 24 relays and those athletes compete to find the top 12 in each event -- those 12 progress to the finals in Eugene.
Tech did fairly well in getting athletes to the top West Prelim - slightly fewer total numbers than past years, but more Red Raiders ranked in the top 12. Here are the entries, with a few notes along the way:
WOMEN
Tech did fairly well in getting athletes to the top West Prelim - slightly fewer total numbers than past years, but more Red Raiders ranked in the top 12. Here are the entries, with a few notes along the way:
WOMEN
- Sophomore Tiffani Johnson makes the 100 (22) and 200 (30) fields, a fitting ending to a strong 2nd season for TJ.
- 400 - junior Marika Brown (28) runs well after a transfer from Texas State, then a injury redshirt season in 2016. Sophomore Sara Limp was in the top 48, but was not entered by the Tech coaches to concentrate on running on both Tech relays.
- 10K - senior Jocelyn Caro (19) has improved every year at Tech and this year has her best shot at going to nationals. She also was in the top 48 in the 5K, but will concentrate on the longer race.
- 100H - soph Kaylee Hinton (36) - freshman Ivy Walker held the #49 spot on the list, missing nationals by a few hundredths of a second. Look for her to be at the prelim meet in 2018
- 400H - freshman Mackenzie Frank (26) - has shown flashes of huge potential this year
- 4x100 relay (13)
- 4x400 relay (11) - both relays are right on the dividing line - a good run on Saturday will get them to nationals
- HJ - soph Zarreia Willis (11) made it to nationals last year after being ranked much lower than 11th going into the meet. Hope she can jump well and make it back. Redshirt freshman Cyre Virgo missed making the top 48 by 3/4 of an inch
- LJ - senior Viershanie Latham is ranked #4; soph heptathlete Kaylee Hinton #20; freshman Zuliat Alli #26 and soph Talajah Murrell #45. So, the Red Raiders make up 1/12th of the total field!
- TJ - V Latham (3) and redshirt junior Paetyn Revell (40), coming off a injury redshirt year. I am really pulling for Viershanie to make it to nationals in both jumping events - a great kid who has had a great career for Tech.
- SP - freshman Crystal Onwukaife (30) - Crystal shows tremendous potential in a field full of juniors and seniors
- Heptathlon - soph Kaylee Hinton (5) will progress to nationals in this event - in the hep, they just take the top 24 ranked in the nation straight to the national meet -- Kaylee is ranked #4 in the West, but #5 overall right now.
- 100 - freshmen Divine Oduduru (6) and Trevin Chambers (25) give Tech a strong sprint presence - I just hope Divine can run close to 100%
- 200 - sophomore Andrew Hudson (10) and Divine O (19) - will just have to see if both of these sprinters are able to run at 100%
- 400 - junior Steven Champlin (2) and senior Kyle Collins (4) - both very capable of making it to nationals
- 800 - junior Charles Jones (4) and soph Vincent Crisp (8) - again, these 2 are very capable of adding to the group headed to nationals
- Steeplechase - senior Benard Keter (4) - BK won this West prelim last year, then just missed placing at nationals, getting 10th - hope to see him make it back to nationals this year.
- 110H - junior Darien Tennon (16), transfer junior Dorian Williams (46) - Darien is coming off an injury redshirt year in 2016 and has been solid all year. Transfer Dorian has run FAR better than he ever ran at NC State, but has a lot of make up to go to nationals.
- 400H - Darien Tennon (23) and sophomore Caleb Richmond (42) - the longer hurdle race actually suits Darien better - would love to see him make nationals in this race
- 4x100 (8) - if Divine O runs on the relay, they should make it to nationals
- 4x400 (3) - this is a GOOD relay and should fight for a spot on the medal stand at nationals
- HJ - junior Trey Culver (1) - Trey is Trey - a national contender every time he competes
- PV - soph transfer Drew McMichael (6) has been a great addition to the team after a disastrous freshman year at Auburn - vaulted over 18 feet at conference.
- LJ - freshman Justin Hall (3) and soph decathlete Erin Lopez (45) - of course, the #1 ranked long jumper in the West was Tech's Charles Brown, who was injured at the conference meet and will miss this prelim meet entirely. He was also ranked in the top 12 in the triple jump. I am still thrilled to see freshman Hall with a good shot at going to nationals
- Javelin - freshman Werner Bouwer (8) and junior transfer Hunter Hopkins - Bouwer has the potential to launch a world class throw at any time - I am ready to see him throw 250 feet! SFA transfer Hopkins had to sit out the 2016 after the Lumberjacks would not release him, but he is making up for lost time this year
