SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The men of Arizona Track and Field opened up the NCAA West First Round Championships on Wednesday at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento. Impressively, four Wildcats qualified for the NCAA Championships in five different events on day one: Jordan Geist (shot put, hammer throw), Zach Landa (shot put), Youssef Koudssi (shot put), and Jared O'Riley (javelin). That is the most individual throwers that have advanced to the outdoor finals for the Wildcats in program history. Additionally, Trayvion White-Austin (200m) advanced to his running event quarterfinal on Friday.
 
"Everyone was able to advance today for the throwers, including me going back in the hammer throw and the shot put," said Geist. "Going forward, we're all in the same place and we're all going to be at the national meet and that's all that mattered today. We'll get some more preparation in these next couple of weeks to try to show out in Austin."
 
TICKETS PUNCHED
Jordan Geist – Second, Shot Put | Second, Hammer Throw
Zach Landa – Fourth, Shot Put
Youssef Koudssi – Sixth, Shot Put
Jared O'Riley – 12th, Javelin
 
FIELD HIGHLIGHTS
Jordan Geist got things started on day one by punching his ticket to the NCAA Championships in Austin with a second-place finish in the men's hammer throw. With Geist coming into the day competing in both the hammer throw and shot put, he was looking to just go over 70m once in the hammer throw to qualify for the championship while still staying fresh for the shot put later in the day. That mark came on his second throw of the event with a heave of 72.62m (238-3). That mark puts him third among both West and East participants in the event today. It's the fourth time in his career that he's qualified for and will compete at the NCAA Championships.
 
In the men's javelin, Jared O'Riley finished 12th overall to punch his ticket to Austin as well. Entering the meet, O'Riley was ranked 11th in the West Region, so there was the possibility that today's competition would come down to the wire, which it did. He was able to hold onto the 12th-place spot though and qualify for the NCAA Championships as one of the event's top-12 competitors. His best throw on the day was 68.56m (224-11). This is the second consecutive year that O'Riley has advanced to the NCAA Championships.
 
"It feels good to be advancing on," said O'Riley. "That was the expectation coming in. I made it last year, so it feels good to make it again."
 
The Wildcats dominated the men's shot put, just like they have all season, qualifying three athletes for the NCAA Championships. After his earlier success in the hammer throw, Jordan Geist led the way, finishing second with a throw of 20.90m (68-7). Zach Landa finished fourth for the Wildcats with a personal best toss of 19.98m (65-6.75) and Youssef Koudssi placed sixth with a PR heave of 19.81m (65-0) as well. Landa's PR bumps up his mark that was already fourth all-time in school history, while Koudssi's new personal best moves him up to sixth all-time. All three Wildcats had their bests marks come on their first throws of the competition. Additionally, the Arizona trio makes up the largest number of competitors from one team to advance to the finals in the event. It's the first time since 2008 that Arizona has advanced three shot putters to the NCAA Championships. Including O'Riley in the javelin, it's the most individual throwers (four) that the Wildcats have advanced to the outdoor finals.
 
"Today felt amazing," said Landa. "My first throw was a PR and you can't ask for anything better than that. I can't think of too many schools that have three guys going in one event, so that's awesome and we're excited."
 
Similarly, Koudssi said, "Today felt really good. I've been wanting to qualify ever since I entered the NCAA and to finally be able to do that, it feels surreal right now. I'm excited to compete in Austin."
 
In the men's long jump, Reinaldo Rodrigues leaped 7.31m (23-11.75) and Sir Jonathan Sims jumped 7.25m (23-9.5). However, neither of the two qualified for the finals.
 
TRACK HIGHLIGHTS
Trayvion White-Austin was Arizona's only competitor on the day who advanced to a track event quarterfinal on Friday. He clocked a time of 20.94 in the men's 200m to finish in the top 24 and move on, where he'll then get the opportunity to compete and potentially move forward to Austin in the event.
 
White-Austin also ran a time of 10.50 in the men's 100m. In the men's 400m, Carl Hicks ran a time of 46.43 and Isaac Davis finished with a time of 47.16. Additionally, James Onanubosi clocked a time of 21.18 in the men's 200m as well.
 
The women will get started tomorrow on day two with a schedule identical to the men today. Field events start at 10:00 a.m. MST and track events begin at 6:00 p.m. MST. Live results for all the events can be found here.
 
FOLLOW THE WILDCATS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Arizona Track and Field by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/ArizonaTrack), Twitter (@ArizonaTrack), Instagram (arizonatrack) and YouTube (Youtube.com/arizonawildcatstrack) accounts.