Track and Field Sends 23 Athletes to the NCAA East Preliminaries

Photo by: Jeff Reinking | Louisville Athletics

Track and Field Sends 23 Athletes to the NCAA East Preliminaries

May 17, 2018 | Track & Field

A record 23 athletes will compete for the Cardinals next week in the NCAA East Preliminaries

By: Kim Pemberton

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Twenty three University of Louisville track and field student-athletes make up 24 total entries for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field East Preliminary Rounds, the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field Committee announced on Thursday. The 23 athletes competing in the postseason ties the school record set in 2011.

The preliminary competitions are scheduled for May 24 - 26. The University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla. will host the East Preliminary and California State University Sacramento in Sacramento, Calif. will host the West Preliminary. The qualifiers out of these two regions will compete in the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 6-9 in Eugene, Ore.

NCAA track and field fans can watch a live stream of the NCAA Division I East and/or West Preliminary Championships as FloTrack Pro subscribers. The subscription will include access to all FloTrack live broadcasts, video on-demand from all events, documentaries, technique videos and more. Coverage of the preliminary competitions will be available May 24 - 26 at www.FloTrack.com.

The women's squad has 11 student-athletes competing in 12 events, while the men's squad qualified 11 student-athletes in 11 events. Senior Joe Delgado will compete in the NCAA Championships in the decathlon later next month.

Dorcas Wasike will make her NCAA debut on the track in the 10,000 meters. She was the ACC Champion in the 10,000 meters and runner-up in the 5,000 meters. She currently ranks eighth in the nation in the 10,000 meters with a time of 32:46.72 from the ACC Championship, setting a new school record.

Kassidy Manning and Bailey Beery will join her in the 10,000 meters Manning ran a personal best time of 34:23.74 at the Raleigh Relays in the 10,000 meters. Beery also ran a personal best time of 34:50.47 in the 10,000 meters at the Raleigh Relays. Both Manning and Beery will be making their first NCAA appearance.

Bailey Davis will make her first NCAA appearance in the 5,000 meters. Davis earned second team All-ACC teams honors after finishing fourth in the 5,000 meters at the ACC Championship. She ran a personal best time of 16:17.44 last week. On the men's side, Albert Kosgei will compete in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. He finished with a time of 8:58.73, winning the event at the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational.

Also on the track, Teague Peck, Martice Moore, Brooke Raglin, Donald McClinton and Kelsey Heyward will compete. Peck is making his third appearance at the NCAA Preliminaries. He ran a personal best time of 1:49.07 in the 800 meters at the ACC Championships in the prelims. Moore is also making his third straight appearance in the NCAA Preliminaries. He finished with a season best time of 51.78 in the 400 meter hurdles at the Texas Relays. Heyward ran a personal best time of 13.93 in the 100 meter hurdles at the ACC Championship last weekend. She will be making her first NCAA appearance.

Raglin, a freshman, will be making her first career appearance at the NCAA Preliminaries. She ran a personal best time of 11.56 in the 100 meters at the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational, winning the event. McClinton, also a freshman, will be making his first NCAA prelim appearance in the 200 meters. He set a new school record with a time of 20.91 in the event at the Louisville invitational.

Makenli Forrest saw the medal stand twice last weekend with a second place finish in the discus and a third place finish in the hammer. The freshman will be making her first NCAA appearance. She threw a personal best of 55.58m/182-4 at the ACC Championships. She won the hammer at the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational with a personal best toss of 65.00m/213-3.

Forrest will be joined by Carsen Cassell and Natalie Uhl in the throwing events. Cassell will compete in the hammer throw for the second straight year at the NCAA Preliminaries. She threw a personal best 61.73m/202-6 at the California Collegiate Open. Uhl will be making her first NCAA Preliminaries appearance. She threw a personal best of 50.65m/166-2 in the discus at the ACC Championships.

On the men's side, John Kolb will compete in the discus while Christian Buckley will compete in the shot put. Kolb finished as runner-up in the discus at the ACC Championship last week. He threw a personal best of 59.15m/194-1 at the conference championship. Buckley earned second team All-ACC honors last week after finishing fifth in the shot put. He tossed a personal best of 17.74m/58-2.25 outdoor championship. He is making his second NCAA appearance.

The Cardinals have seven athletes competing in the jumping events. Two men's athletes will compete in the high jump, triple jump and long jump, with women's athletes in the long jump and pole vault. Damar Robinson is also an ACC Champion in the high jump and finished third in the triple jump last weekend. He is tied for ninth in the nation with a high jump mark of 2.24m/7-4.25 from the ACC Championships where he set a new school record.

Joining Robinson in the high jump will be senior Jerin Allen, who is making his second consecutive NCAA appearance. Allen took third at the ACC Championships with a career-best jump of 2.21m/7-3. In the triple jump, fellow senior Devin Valentine makes his first NCAA appearance after finishing with a season-best mark of 15.68m/51-5.5 in a win at the Louisville Invitational.

Freshman Gabriela Leon will make her NCAA debut in the pole vault following a season-best mark of 4.05m/13-3.5 that earned her fifth-place at the ACC Championships. In the long jump, senior Oliver Newport is making his third NCAA appearance off of a season-best mark of 7.70m-25-3.25 at the Louisville Invitational. In that same event, senior teammate Marcus Jegede earned his first NCAA berth with a season-best jump of 7.86m/25-9.5. For the second-consecutive year, sophomore Alexis Gibbons will represent Louisville. She earned her place in the event with a season-best jump of 6.21m-20.4.5 at the Texas Relays.

Women
Hammer – Makenli Forrest, Carsen Cassell
Pole Vault – Gabriela Leon
100m Hurdles – Kelsey Heyward
100m – Brooke Raglin
Long Jump – Alexis Gibbons
Discus – Makenli Forrest, Natalie Uhl
5,000m – Bailey Davis
10,000m – Dorcas Wasike, Kassidy Manning, Bailey Beery

Men
800m – Teague Peck
Long Jump – Marcus Jegede, Oliver Newport
400m Hurdles – Martice Moore
3,000m Steeplechase – Albert Kosgei
Discus – John Kolb
High Jump – Damar Robinson, Jerin Allen
Triple Jump – Devin Valentine
Shot Put – Christian Buckley
200m - Donald McClinton

NCAA Qualifier
Joe Delgado - Decathlon