Head Coach Fred Harvey Post-Meet Interview
Gerhard De Beer Post-Meet Interview
AUSTIN, Texas – University of Arizona Wildcat men’s and women’s track and field teams finished the first day of competition at the NCAA West Preliminaries in Austin, Texas on Thursday. The University of Texas is hosting the meet at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Three Wildcats advanced to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. on June 10-13 and three more advanced to the quarterfinals in their respective events.
“I thought we had a very good day,” head coach Fred Harvey said. “I’m looking forward to where we’re going, starting Friday.”
Sophomore Gerhard de Beer qualified for the NCAA Championships with a toss of 183-2 (55.82m) in the men’s discus competition. He earned a sixth place finish in the meet and it was also the seventh best mark of his career.
"I don't think the lightning delay affected me," de Beer said. "We were supposed to start at 3 p.m. CT and started at 6 p.m. CT. At least I did a warmup then. The delays were way before my flight so it didn't affect us much. It is what it is. Last year I missed making it to Eugene by two or three spots and I was very unhappy. I'm just very blessed to make it this year. Thank you to God and my family and friends for all their support."
In the women’s long jump, sophomore and Texas native Aleah Hurst also qualified for the NCAA Championships as she posted a personal record. She had a mark of 20-5 (6.22m, 0.0 wind), which is the seventh-best mark in Arizona history and finished in 10th place.
"Well, I am so excited and proud of myself," Hurst said. "I came into this meet with a new mindset, like I wasn't scared anymore and I was confident that I could jump with the best of them. I knew I was going to have to show out for my family in my home state. It has been a rough two years and I was about to get discouraged but I'm happy I got this opportunity."
Senior Elvin Kibet advanced to the NCAA Championships in the women’s 10K by clocking a time of 34:35.26 and finishing in sixth place. With Kibet advancing to the NCAA Championships, it marks the third time in her career that she has done so in the 10K. Kibet will also run in the 5K on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. MST.
In the first round of the women’s 400-meter hurdles, junior Nnenya Hailey took first place in her heat by posting a time of 56.90, which is the third-fastest time of her career. Hailey finished with the fastest time of any other hurdler by over half a second and she will compete in the quarterfinals on Friday at 5:30 p.m. MST.
Senior Pete Lauderdale II advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s 400-meter dash by earning 16th place with a time of 46.99. He will run on Friday at 4:15 p.m. MST.
Sophomore Collins Kibet advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s 800-meter run after winning his individual heat and finishing in fifth place overall with a time of 1:49.17, good for the fourth-best time of his career He will run on Friday at 5:15 p.m. MST.
Sophomore Alyssa Thompson also set a new personal record in the long jump as she posted a mark of 20-2.25 (6.15m, 0.0 wind), which is the ninth-best mark in Arizona history and finished in 14th place, falling just five centimeters short of a birth to the NCAA Championships.
Junior Pau Tonnesen finished in a tie for 40th place in the men’s high jump after clearing a mark of 6-8 (2.03m) and did not qualify for the NCAA Championships. However, Tonnesen, the Pac-12 Champion in the decathlon, already qualified for the NCAA Championships in that event.
Junior Morgan Struble finished in 33rd place with a time of 1:01.01 in the women’s 400-meter hurdles and she will not advance to tomorrow’s quarterfinals. Sophomore Miles Parrish clocked a time of 53.72 in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, good for a 42nd-place finish and will not advance to Friday’s quarterfinals.
Freshman Tyrell Johnson ran the third-fastest time of his career at 10.45 (+1.8 wind) in the men’s 100-meter dash, good for a 35th-place finish overall. Johnson’s time was not fast enough in order to qualify for Friday’s quarterfinals.
Sophomore Bryce Houston clocked a time of 47.95 in the men’s 400 meters, good for a 43rd-place finish. That is the sixth fastest time Houston has run in the event, but he did not qualify for Friday’s quarterfinals. Junior Blake Eichler was disqualified due to a false start.
In the women’s 400-meter dash, freshman Diana Gajda clocked a time of 54.61 and finished in 33rd place. Freshman Tatum Waggoner took 43rd place and finished in 55.39. Sophomore Jasper Gray finished in 46th place by running a time of 55.58. None of the trio advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals.
Junior Kate Penney finished in 47th place with a time of 5:03.19 in the women’s 1,500-meter race. She did not qualify for Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Senior Kristina Aubert did not finish in the women’s 10K.
The meet will continue tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. MST with the first round of the women’s discus competition. A complete recap and results will be available at ArizonaWildcats.com after each day of competition. Also follow @ArizonaTrack on Twitter for live updates from the meet. Live results will be available at http://branchsportstech.com/NCAAWest/ and visit http://www.texassports.com/watch/?Live=278 for a live stream of the meet.
