NCAA West Regionals start Wednesday for quartet of Washington's D1 schools...

The road to the NCAA Division I championships goes through Fayetteville, Arkansas as the University of Arkansas hosts the NCAA West Preliminary Round at John McDonnell Track.

Like the finals that will be contested in Eugene in two weeks, the meet will alternate between men's and women's action, starting with the men on Wednesday, and Friday will be the final day for the men. The women will take the stage on Thursday and Saturday. Running events will be streamed online via SEC Network+, with Wednesday and Thursday's competition starting at 4 pm Pacific, and 3 pm Pacific on Friday and Saturday.

The University of Washington goes into Fayetteville with the largest group of athletes, as the Huskies head into Arkansas with an army of 34 men and women.

Two Huskies have already earned spots directly into the national championships, as decathlete Ollie Thorner (Paul Merca photo) and 2021 All-American heptathlete Ida Eikeng are qualified for the national championships by virtue of holding a season-best score ranked in the top 24 nationally.

The Dawgs have four men--Brian Fay (1, 5000), Kieran Lumb (5, 5000 & 7, 10000), Luke Houser (8, 1500), and Roan Allen (9, javelin) ranked in the top ten nationally, and five women--Haley Herberg (4, 10000 & 9, 5000), Carley Thomas (9, 800), Anna Gibson (9, 1500), and Allie Schadler (10, 5000) ranked in the top ten nationally entering the West regional meet.

Washington State has 20 athletes and a relay team, led by Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Micaela De Mello, the outstanding 100-meter hurdler from Brazil, who is ranked number 21 nationally.

Gonzaga has seven entries, led by 2021 NCAA and US Olympic Trials 10000m qualifier James Mwaura, who is looking to return to the national championships, but in both the 5000 and 10000, where he is ranked number 21 in the 5000 and 27 in the 10000.

Eastern Washington has five athletes, with long jumper Bobby Say their top seeded athlete in the meet, as he enters the meet ranked number 27 in his specialty.

There are also several notable athletes with Washington ties in the regional meet, including Pac-12 triple jump champion Lexi Ellis, a product of Curtis HS in University Place, who is ranked tenth nationally.

For the sixth straight season (the 2020 season was cancelled by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Seattle University failed to qualify an athlete to the NCAA Preliminary Round. Since moving to Division I in the 2012 season, the Redhawks have advance three qualifiers, with the last being high jumper Shaddye Melu in 2015.

The home page to the NCAA West Regionals is available here, which includes the start lists, streaming information, and the meet program.

NOTE: The University of Arkansas sports information office contributed to this report.

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