The road to Eugene starts in Fayetteville Wednesday at NCAA West First Round meet...
The road back to Eugene and the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships goes directly through Fayetteville, Arkansas and Lexington, Kentucky starting Wednesday for the NCAA Preliminary Rounds, commonly known as the West and East Regionals.
With a starting field of 48 athletes in the individual events, and 24 teams in the relay races, the sole objective in this meet is to finish twelfth or higher to get that ticket to Eugene, Oregon.
Every track event in Fayetteville and Lexington from the 100-meters up to the 1500-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 advancing 12. Longer races—the 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000-meters, and 10,000-meters—have just one round to go from 48 down to 12.
In the throws and horizontal jumps, all 48 athletes will simply have three attempts each to decide the advancing 12. Vertical jumps will continue to raise the bars until a top-12 is decided.
Of the four Washington schools who qualified athletes, the University of Washington has the largest contingent with 21 women's entries and 15 men's entries.
The only Huskies doubling are Evan Jenkins (Paul Merca photo) in the men's 5000 and 10000, Chloe Thomas in the 5000 and 10000, and Mia Cochran in the 1500 and 5000.
Washington State has five men and four women competing, with only Evans Kurui doubling in the 5000 and 10000 for the men and Zenah Cheptoo in the 5000 and 10000 for the women.
Gonzaga has three men and four women in Fayetteville. Out of that group, Logan Schwartz is doubling in the 5000 and 10000 for the men, and Rosina Machu & Logan Hofstee in the women's 5000 and 10000.
Eastern Washington has five men and one woman in the meet, with no one doubling.
Seattle University continues its streak of futility by not qualifying an athlete for the first round for the eleventh straight season.
As has been the case over the last several years, the scheduling format of the Regionals mirrors the national championship meet schedule, with the men and women alternating competition days. The men compete on Wednesday and Friday, while Thursday and Saturday are devoted to the women.
Going into the West Regionals as the number one seed are UW pole vaulter Hana Moll, the outdoor collegiate record holder, and WSU's Rosemary Longisa in the 1500 meters.
As noted earlier, both Washington's Sofia Cosculluela and Tomeko Cates in the heptathlon and decathlon, advanced straight to nationals as one of the top 24 athletes on the descending order list. Cosculluela is competing in the 100 hurdles, and Cates is in the high jump.
There are eleven athletes in the two regional meets who competed for Washington State last year: Mason Lawyer of Arizona, and Keenan Kuntz of Idaho in the 100 and 200; Grant Buckmiller of LSU in the 400; John Paredes and Parker Duskin of Arizona in the 110 HH; Kai Twaddle-Dunham of Auburn in both the shot and discus; Blake Sturgis of Idaho in the javelin; Brooke Lyons of Arizona in the 200; Micaela De Mello of Oregon in the 100H; and Tatum Moku & Eva Lowder of Grand Canyon in the pole vault.
Here's the list of athletes competing Wednesday with Washington ties:
WEST REGIONALS
110HH: Maddy Shekhawat (32) 13.78,
1500: Reuben Reina Jr (9) 3:37.32; Tyler Bilyard (14) 3:37.99; Martin Barco (34) 3:40.01; Josiah Tostenson (48) 3:41.47
100: Mason Lawyer (Arizona, 3) 9.93w; Louie Hinchliffe (Houston, 4) 9.93w; Miguel Rosario (Grand Canyon, 12) 10.09; Keenan Kuntz (Idaho, 29) 10.18w
400: Alex Rhodes (3) 44.94, Jacob Andrews (USC, 29) 45.96
400H: Jonathan Frazier (28)
200: Mason Lawyer (Arizona, 2) 20.02; Miguel Rosario (Grand Canyon, 4) 20.13w; Keenan Kuntz (Idaho, 38) 20.58
10000: Evan Jenkins (15), Evans Kurui (4) 27:48.06; Josphat Meli (36) 28:38.43; Solomon Kipchoge (37) 28:40.22; Kutoven Stevens (41) 28:44.67; Muhammed Ahmed (44) 28:49.08, Logan Schwartz (48)
JT: Carson Olmstead (19) 227-0 (69.20m), Logan Ashbeck (44) 209-3 (63.78m), Blake Sturgis (Idaho, 10) 240-2 (73.21m); Jack Olsen (Colorado St, 40) 211-8 (64.51m)
PV: Jimmy Rhoads (2) 18-10.25 (5.75m); Alex Blecha (36) 17-2.25 (5.24m)
EAST REGIONALS:
110H: Andre Korbmacher (Florida St, 8)
SP: Kai Twaddle-Dunham (Auburn, 42) 58-9.5 (17.92m)
HT: Jeremiah Nubbe (Virginia, 1) 242-0 (73.76m)
All four days of the NCAA West First Rounds will be streamed live via ESPN+ ($). The start list and link to live results for the NCAA West First Round is available here.
UPDATE (10:45 PM, Pacific 5/26)
Due to anticipated inclement weather, meet management has changed the time schedule for Wednesday's competition. Here's the time schedule, courtesy of the NCAA (all times listed Central time):
UW WOMEN GO INTO REGIONALS RANKED 17TH...
While there were no competitions last week, this week's USTFCCCA Division I Track & Field Rating Index changed slightly to reflect only those athletes actually competing in the events they're declared for at the NCAA First Round meets in Fayetteville and Lexington.
The UW women maintained their spot at number 17 in the rating index.
The national top five women's teams are in order: Georgia, Florida, BYU, South Carolina and Texas A&M.
B1G Ten teams in the national top 25 include number 8 USC, number 11 Nebraska, number 12 Illinois, number 13 Oregon, and number 22 Minnesota.
No Washington men's teams are in the top 25, with the Huskies the closest at number 40.
The top five men's teams are in order: Arkansas, Oregon, Georgia, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech.
Other B1G Ten teams in the top 25 include number 10 Nebraska, number 11 Minnesota, number 14 USC, number 21 Illinois, and number 24 Penn State.
NOTE: The NCAA, USTFCCCA, and the sports information offices of Washington, Washington State, Gonzaga and Eastern Washington contributed to this report.
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