The NCAA D1 West Regionals start in Fayetteville Wednesday for UW, WSU, Gonzaga & Eastern...
FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas--The road to the NCAA championship meet in Eugene begins Wednesday at John McDonnell Track on the campus of the University of Arkansas, as four days of competition begins to see who moves on to Hayward Field at the University of Oregon for the NCAA Division I championship finals.
The West Preliminary meet in Fayetteville cuts the field of 48 in each individual event and 24 relay teams down to 12 to advance to Eugene in two weeks. The same deal applies to the East Regional meet in Lexington, Kentucky where the group of 48 will vie for one of the twelve spots to the nationals in TrackTown USA.
Similar to the format the NCAA has used over the last few years, the regional meets mirror the same schedule as the national finals: the men will compete on Wednesday and Friday, while the women go on Thursday and Saturday.
All the track action takes place in the evening, starting at 4 p.m. Pacific the first two days and 3 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Field events start as early as 8 a.m. Pacific with the hammers and continue throughout the day.
Every track event in Fayetteville from the 100-meters up to the 1,500-meters will have two rounds; a first round that cuts the field from 48 to 24, and a quarterfinal that takes it from 24 down to the qualifying 12. The longer races: 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000-meters, and 10,000-meters—have just one round.
In the throws and horizontal jumps, all 48 athletes have three attempts each to decide the advancing 12. Vertical jumps will continue to raise the bar until a top-12 is decided, with no ties.
Washington comes into Fayetteville with 39 entries in the meet (20 men/19 women), while Washington State has 27 athletes (13 men/14 women), a women's 4 x 100 relay, and a men's 4 x 400 relay.
Eastern Washington has six entries (4 women/2 men), while Gonzaga has eleven entries heading to Arkansas (6 women/5 men).
While no men from the four Washington schools in the meet are seeded first, the Huskies have two, in 1500 meter runner Chloe Foerster (Paul Merca photo), and pole vaulter Hana Moll. Washington State has 100 meter hurdler Maribel Caicedo as the top seed in her event.
Decathletes Jami Schlueter of the UW and Lee Walburn of WSU automatically advanced to Eugene by virtue of having one of the 24 best marks in the country. Walburn is listed as an alternate on the Cougars' 4 x 400 relay team, while Schlueter will not compete at all in preparation for the nationals.
Notable athletes with Washington ties in the West Regionals include Ridgefield native Trey Knight of Cal State Northridge in the hammer; Rainier HS grad Jeremiah Nubbe of Texas in the hammer and discus; Garret Bernt of Stevenson HS and Northern Arizona in the hammer; former Washingotn State sprinter Louie Hinchliffe, now competing for Houston; Eastside Catholic's Kate Jendrezak of UCLA in the 800; Eastlake HS's Brooke Manson of Utah in the 800; former Husky Sarah Carter of Colorado State in the 5000 & 10000; Lake Stevens HS grad Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State in both the 5000 and 10000.
In the East Regional, twins Olivia and Andrea Markezich from Woodinville and Notre Dame are entered in the steeple and 10000, respectively. Olivia goes into the NCAAs as the defending national champion in the event.
ESPN+ (requires subscription) will live stream all four days of the meet with each day having a unique link.
HUSKIES MOVE UP IN LATEST USTFCCCA RANKINGS...
Both Washington squads moved up in the latest USTFCCCA NCAA Division I outdoor track & field index released Tuesday before the regional meets.
The rankings reflect the entries for this week's regionals, with marks from athletes not entered in that event thrown out of the index rankings.
The Washington men head into regionals ranked number 18, the team's highest ranking since April 1st, while the women reached their highest ranking all season at number 16.
The top five men's teams are in order: Arkansas, Texas A&M, Florida, LSU and Alabama.
Pac-12 teams in the top 25 include number 9 USC.
The top five women's teams are in order: LSU, Arkansas, Oregon, Texas A&M, and Texas.
Teams from the Pac-12 in the top 25 include number 13 USC, and number 21 UCLA.
NOTE: The NCAA, and the sports information offices of the University of Arkansas, University of Washington, Washington State, Gonzaga, and Eastern Washington contributed to this report.
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