SACRAMENTO, Calif. – On Saturday, Arizona Track and Field wrapped up the NCAA West First Round Championships, hosted by Sacramento State at Hornet Field. After the men finished their competition yesterday, the women wrapped up theirs today by sending three more Wildcats to Austin for the NCAA Championships. Talie Bonds (100m hurdles), Alexa Porpaczy (high jump), and Tapenisa Havea (discus) all punched their tickets to the outdoor championships with top-12 finishes in their events today. In total, seven individual Wildcats and one relay team will be advancing to the final competition, showcasing the team's overall success this week.
 
"I felt our team competed at the highest level," said Head Coach Fred Harvey. "To get almost half of your squad that came to move on to the NCAA finals, that's a big feat. I was also super proud of our younger athletes that came and didn't make it through, because at the end of the day, they have to get here to understand how the NCAA Championships work. We had big, big performances across the board. I'm super proud of the team. We're building as we should be and we're going to have some great performances when we get to Austin."
 
TICKETS PUNCHED
Talie Bonds – Second, 100m Hurdles
Alexa Porpaczy – Fifth, High Jump
Tapenisa Havea – Seventh, Discus
 
FIELD HIGHLIGHTS
Tapenisa Havea started off the final day of competition in Sacramento strong. The freshman punched her ticket to Austin, finishing seventh in the women's discus with a big personal best throw of 55.11m (180-9). That was the first time Havea has surpassed 55m, and her new mark now puts her sixth all-time in school history. Her first attempt of the event broke her personal record, but she then followed that up with another PR on her second heave. Havea won the second flight of the event and then held steady in her positioning as another 16 competitors went in the third and final flight. She was the first Arizona woman to officially qualify for the NCAA Championships this week, which will be the first of her career.
 
"It was one of those things where it just kind of clicked," said Havea. "It feels very exciting, especially since it's my first nationals. I'm most looking forward to competing with the best of the best in Austin and seeing how it feels to be at nationals. And going out there to have fun."
 
Alexa Porpaczy kept the momentum going for the Wildcats in the women's high jump. Porpaczy finished fifth in the event after clearing a near-personal best height of 1.82m (5-11.5). She started off the competition hot, clearing her first three heights of 1.72m (5-7.75), 1.77m (5-9.75), and 1.82m (5-11.5) in just one attempt each. That helped her placing among the other competitors as she took less attempts to clear the same heights as others. Porpaczy will now head to Austin for her first career outdoor NCAA Championships. During the indoor season this year, she competed in her first career indoor NCAA Championships as well.
 
"I felt good about my performance today," said Porpaczy. "I was just trying to jump clean and stay confident through the competition. At the start of this year, I set a goal that I wanted to make both indoor and outdoor nationals. It's my fifth year and I knew that I was capable of doing it. I really focused, put all the pieces together, worked hard, and stayed confident. I'm just glad to be able to do what I set out to do this season."
 
Additionally in the high jump, Talie Bonds cleared a height of 1.72m (5-7.75) and Emma Gates cleared a height of 1.67m (5-5.75). Mackenna Orie also posted a throw of 50.23m (164-9) in the discus as well.
 
TRACK HIGHLIGHTS
Talie Bonds continued her dominant season in the women's 100m hurdles by punching her ticket to Austin in the event. Bonds won her heat and finished second overall in the West Region's quarterfinals with a time of 12.72. She set the Arizona school record in the event earlier in the year with a time of 12.65. This is the second consecutive year that she has advanced to the NCAA Championships in the event. She also competed in the indoor NCAA Championships during this year's indoor season, meaning all three Wildcats (Bonds, Porpaczy, and Jordan Geist) who competed at the indoor championships will also compete at the outdoor championships.
 
"I'm super, super excited," said Bonds about heading to her second straight NCAA Championships. "This is all I wanted, so I'm relieved that the weekend is over and that I made it. Last year we had very few numbers advance, there were only four of us, so I think the environment and the support is going to be really cool in Austin. It will definitely help all of us perform to the best of our ability."
 
In the quarterfinals of the women's 800m, Alisa Lyesina clocked a season best time of 2:05.18 and finished 12th. However, since Lyesina didn't finish in the top three of her heat she needed her time to be one of the next three fastest to advance to the NCAA Championships. Her time was fourth, meaning she missed out on advancing to Austin by just one spot. Although heartbreaking, Lyesina ran one of her best races of the year and put forth an incredible effort. Her first lap split was 1:00.64 and her final lap split was 1:04.54.
 
Neysia Howard closed out the day and the week of competition for the Wildcats in the quarterfinals of the women's 200m. The senior leader clocked a time of 23.79 in the event after advancing to the competition with a personal best time in the first round on Thursday.
 
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
Here is the complete list of Arizona competitors that will be moving on to the NCAA Championships. Last year only four Wildcats (two men and two women) advanced, whereas this year Arizona will have seven individuals and one relay team moving on.
 
Talie Bonds – Women's 100m Hurdles
Jordan Geist – Men's Shot Put, Men's Hammer Throw
Tapenisa Havea – Women's Discus
Youssef Koudssi – Men's Shot Put, Men's Discus
Zach Landa – Men's Shot Put
Jared O'Riley – Men's Javelin
Alexa Porpaczy – Women's High Jump
Trayvion White-Austin, Brian Limage, Carl Hicks, James Onanubosi – Men's 4x100m Relay
 
UP NEXT
All of the Wildcats who qualified to move on will get one more week of rest, recovery, and final preparation before the finals of the NCAA Outdoor Championships will be held on June 7-10. The final competition will be hosted by the University of Texas at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
 
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