BOZEMAN, Mont. — The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Committee announced the participants for the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships First Round competitions on Thursday afternoon.  

An incredible 21 Montana State track and field athletes will participate in the NCAA West First Rounds on May 28-31 at E.B. Cushing Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

The 21 qualifying Bobcats and 19 total entries are the second-most in program history since the current regional format was adopted in the early 2000s. The school record of 23 Bobcat participants was set last season, with the previous best before 2024 set in 2022 (17 qualifiers). 

Montana State will have seven men compete across Wednesday, May 28, and Friday, May 30, while the 14 women will compete in events on Thursday, May 29, and Saturday, May 31.  

A full meet schedule can be viewed here. 

Qualifiers for the NCAA West First Rounds:  

The top 12 finishers in each event at the NCAA West First Rounds advance to the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, held on June 11-14 at Hayward Field.  

Athletes who ranked among the top 48 in their respective events earned a berth into the NCAA West First Rounds. In addition, the best 24 relays times advanced to the NCAA preliminaries. Athletes with the top-12 marks and the best 12 relay teams at both the East and West First Rounds sites qualify for the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.  

Last season, a school-record 23 members of the Montana State track and field team qualified for the NCAA West First Rounds in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

Three men’s steeplechase runners went on to advance to the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, with Levi Taylor, Rob McManus, and Owen Smith all representing ‘Steeple U’ at the biggest stage in collegiate track and field. 

Montana State’s three participants in the 24-athlete field last year in Eugene marked the most of any school and was also the second consecutive year the Bobcats have sent three to the national meet in the steeplechase.  

Montana State and Eastern Kentucky are the only two schools in the country who have sent multiple qualifiers to the NCAA Championships in each of the last three years. 

Though three-time steeplechase All-American Levi Taylor graduated after last season, Rob McManus and Owen Smith are back to try to return to Eugene. 

McManus, who finished 13th in the steeplechase at outdoor nationals in 2024 and 16th in 2023, also finished 15th at indoor nationals this past March in the mile. 

The three-time All-American is one of just five Bobcat men to ever earn three All-American honors (Levi Taylor, Duncan Hamilton, Lyle Weese, Shannon Butler). 

McManus is seeded No. 4 for the West Region and ranks No. 6 nationally in the steeplechase this year. 

He’ll be joined in next Friday’s national quarterfinal by 2024 Honorable Mention All-American Owen Smith (seeded No. 23) and four-time NCAA Division III All-American Will Kelly (seeded No. 30). 

Harvey Cramb, a sophomore from Brisbane, Australia, who placed 11th in the mile at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, is ranked No. 8 in the West Region in the 1,500 meters heading into College Station. The Big Sky champion in the event also set the school record in the 800 meters this season. 

Sam Ells, a junior from Kalispell, Montana, will join Cramb in the pursuit of a berth to Eugene in the 1,500 meters while ranked No. 13 in the West Region in the event. Ells placed fifth in the 1,500 and sixth in the 5,000 at last week’s Big Sky Championships in Sacramento. 

Colby Wilson, a graduate student from Olympia, Washington, qualified for the 2025 NCAA indoor championships in Virginia Beach in March after also qualifying for the 2022 NCAA outdoor championships and 2023 NCAA indoor championships. Wilson heads to College Station ranked No. 22 in the West Region. 

Sydney Brewster, a sophomore from Sandy, Oregon, makes her second straight NCAA West First Rounds appearance after a season in which she broke the school and conference record in the shot put multiple times. Brewster is seeded 13th in the West Region. 

Emma Brensdal, a sophomore from Plentywood, Montana, will join Brewster in the shot put next week in College Station. The Treasure State native broke the school record in the discus this year as well as recorded the second-best throw in Montana State history in the shot put. Brensdal is seeded 29th in the West Region. 

Clara Fox, a sophomore from Bozeman, Montana, is one of three women’s sophomore throwers to qualify for regionals, and returns to the NCAA West First Rounds for the second straight year in the javelin. Fox is seeded 37th in the West Region. 

Elijah Jackman, a junior from Tigard, Oregon, advances to the NCAA West First Rounds for the second straight year in the hammer throw. At the Big Sky Championships last week in Sacramento, Jackman placed second in the hammer, second in the discus, and seventh in the shot put to score 18 points for the Bobcats—tied for the team lead with Harvey Cramb. Jackman is seeded No. 36 in the West Region in the hammer. 

Kyla Christopher-Moody, a graduate student from Royal Oak, Michigan, advances to the NCAA West First Rounds for the second straight year in the 5,000 meters. Christopher-Moody has set four school records in 2025 (indoor mile, indoor 3,000 meters, outdoor 1,500 meters, outdoor 5,000 meters) and has earned three All-Conference honors this season with podium finishes in the indoor 3,000 meters, indoor 5,000 meters, and outdoor 10,000 meters. Christopher-Moody is seeded 26th in the West Region in the 5,000 meters. 

Grace Gilbreth, a senior from Bozeman, Montana, qualifies for College Station in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Gilbreth, the only Montana State woman ever to finish the steeplechase in under ten minutes, placed 25th at the NCAA West First Rounds last year in Fayetteville, and finished fourth in the event last week at the Big Sky Championships in Sacramento. The school record-holder is seeded 12th in the West Region. 

Millie Hubbell, a junior from Littleton, Colorado, qualifies for NCAA Regionals in the 100 meter hurdles. Hubbell is making her first NCAA West First Rounds appearance following a spectacular season in which she finished second in the 60 meter hurdles at the Big Sky indoor championships and second in the 100 meter hurdles at the Big Sky outdoor championships. The junior is seeded 29th in the West Region. 

Giulia Gandolfi, a junior from Faenza, Italy, qualifies both in the 400 meter hurdles and as part of the Bobcats’ 4×400 meter relay team. Gandolfi ran the third leg on the school-record relay team that enters College Station as the ninth-fastest squad in the field, and also currently holds the fifth-fastest 400 meter hurdle race in school history. Gandolfi is seeded No. 40 in the West Region in the 400 meter hurdles. 

Peyton Garrison, a junior from New Castle, Colorado, qualifies in both the 200 meters and as part of the Bobcats’ 4×400 meter relay team. Garrison ran the second leg on the school-record relay team that enters College Station as the ninth-fastest squad in the field, and also holds the school record in the 200 meters. The junior earned a silver medal in the 4×100 meter relay last week at the Big Sky Championships and a bronze medal in the 200 meters. Garrison is seeded No. 45 in the West Region in the 200 meters. 

Caroline Hawkes, Olivia Lewis, and Jadyn VanDyken will all travel to College Station as part of the qualifying 4×400 meter relay team. The squad is ranked ninth in the West Region thanks to their school-record time of 3:33.66 run at the Mt. SAC Relays in April. The top-12 relays from the 24 competing next week advance to Eugene. 

Hailey Coey, a junior from Billings, Montana, qualifies for the NCAA West First Rounds in the long jump for the first time in her career after a breakthrough season. Coey broke her own school record in the long jump multiple times and is currently ranked second all-time in Big Sky Conference history in the event. The 2025 Big Sky indoor champion finished second at the outdoor conference meet last week and enters College Station seeded ninth in the West Region. 

Tatum Richards, a sophomore from Emmett, Idaho, qualifies for the NCAA West First Rounds in the pole vault for the first time in her career. The 2025 Big Sky champion is currently tied for No. 2 all-time in Montana State history in the event (13-09.00) and will be one of a school-record three pole vaulters to compete at the regional stage next week. Richards is seeded 41st in the West Region. 

Megan Bell, a freshman from Ann Arbor, Michigan, qualifies for the NCAA West First Rounds in the pole vault in her debut collegiate season. Bell recorded the top clearance in the Big Sky Conference during the regular season (13-08.25) and placed fourth at the Big Sky Championships last week in Sacramento. Bell is seeded 48th in the West Region. 

The NCAA First Rounds will be streamed on ESPN+. A full meet schedule can be viewed here. 

#GoCatsGo 

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Air Force track and field team secured 17 bids to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the national office announced today (May 22), with the release of their final fields for the upcoming championship meet. The Falcons, who earned selections in 13 different events, will send 13 athletes and one relay to College Station, Texas, for the West Preliminary on May 28-31, while freshman Brayden Richards earned a spot in the decathlon final next month (June 11-14) at Hayward Field.
 
Richards, the first Falcon in 13 years to qualify to the NCAA Championships in the decathlon, is one of just three freshmen in the 24-man decathlon field (unlike the other events, the multis send the top 24 athletes from across the country to the final site of the national championships). Overall, Richards is ranked 17th in the NCAA with a career-best tally of 7659 points – No. 2 in Air Force history – that he set at the Bryan Clay Multis earlier this season.
 

For the rest of the Falcons, based on their ranking as one of the West’s top 48 accepted athletes in each event, a total of 11 men, two women, and one relay will compete at E.B. Cushing Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University.
 
Junior Texas Tanner paced the Falcons with three bids into the national meet, as he qualified in the shot put, discus throw, and hammer throw for the second-straight year. Tanner, who captured conference titles in the discus and hammer throws at last week’s MW Championships, is ranked fourth in the West in both events behind career-best, Academy Record marks (63.59 meters in the discus, 75.83 meters in the hammer). He is also ranked among the top 48 in the shot put with a season-best distance of 18.29 meters.
 
Tanner will be one of two Air Force representatives in the opening round of the hammer throw, as senior Cooper Stroka is ranked 13th in the region behind a distance 67.33 meters. The Falcons qualified athletes in all four throwing events for the third-straight year, as senior Joe Nizich and Richards earned regional bids in the javelin throw. Nizich, who claimed the conference title at last week’s championship meet, will enter his fourth-straight West Prelim ranked 18th in the region behind his conference-winning throw of 69.91 meters (No. 2 in Air Force history), while Richards is ranked 44th in the region with a throw of 64.92 meters (No. 13 in Air Force history).
 
On the track, the Falcons qualified multiple first-time qualifiers in both the 1500-meter and 10,000-meter events. Junior Ben Scheller and freshman Saketh Rudraraju enter the West Region ranked 46th (3:41.98) and 48th (3:42.06), respectively, in the 1500-meter run, while juniors Jayden Nats (28:22.06, 30th) and Max Sannes (28:25.20, 39th) hold regional top 40 rankings in the 10,000-meter run.
 
Senior Jason Renze qualified for his third-straight West Prelim in the 3000-meter steeplechase, following a career-best 8:41.69 that is ranked 24th in the region, while classmate Javin Bostic advanced to his second West meet after earning his first bid in the 200-meter dash (20.56, 21st). Freshman Asher Jenkins earned his first outdoor selection following a 10.29 performance in the 100-meter dash (47th) and has joined Bostic on the first two legs of every 4×100-meter relay this season – including the squad that won the MW title last weekend and clocked the prelim-qualifying time of 39.81a at the Air Force Twilight (24th).
 
On the women’s side, freshman Morgan Glaser qualified to her first national meet in the high jump with an outdoor-best clearance of 1.79 meters (27th), while junior India Jones secured her second-straight trip to the NCAA West Prelim in the 10,000-meter run (33:39.58, 32nd).
 
The four-day West Preliminary will run simultaneously with the East Preliminary in Jacksonville, Florida. The top 12 finishers in each event from both sites, as well as the nation’s top 24 athletes in the decathlon and heptathlon, will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on June 11-14.
 
 
 

Eight Hope College men’s runners have claimed all-region accolades from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for the 2025 outdoor season: seniors Alex Daniels and Connor Vachon; juniors Liam Danitz, Erickson Kunzler, Ian Petruska and Nolan Sanders; and freshman Kevin Barifagok.

Danitz (West Branch, Michigan / Ogemaw Heights HS) topped the Flying Dutchmen with all-region honors in three events: 100 meters, 200 meters and the 4×100 relay. The exercise science major earned MIAA titles in both individual events.

Daniels (Holland, Michigan / Holland), Sanders (Midland, Michigan / H.H. Dow) and Terpstra (Hudsonville, Michigan / Hudsonville) all received the distinction in the 4×100 relay, which was the MIAA champ.

Vachon (Jenison, Michigan / Jenison) and Petruska (Fort Collins, Colorado / Fort Collins) claimed the distinction in the 1,500 meters. Petruska was the MIAA champion in the event.

Kunzler (Marne, Michigan / Grand Rapids Catholic Central) achieved the accolade in the 800 meters. The exercise science major was the MIAA champ in the event.

Barifagok (Las Vegas, Nevada / Cristo Rey Saint Viator) earned the all-region honors in the 400-meter hurdles.



The top-5 individuals in each event from each region, and each member of the top-3 ranked relay teams from USTFCCCA-member programs, are honored. Hope is in the Great Lakes Region.

 

Volleyball player Ben Stuerman going to Simpson, while wrestler Santino Alvaro picks Southern Oregon

Two senior student-athletes from Santa Ynez High School are make plans for the next level.

Joined by their families, teammates, and friends, volleyball player Ben Stuerman and wrestler Santino Alvaro made their intentions known during a signing ceremony on the SYHS campus May 6. Both are headed for similar destinations: smaller NAIA schools on the West Coast.

Stuerman, team co-captain of the Pirates’ boys volleyball team that just won the CIF Central Section Division II championship, is going to Simpson University in Redding, California.

Stuerman, who also played water polo at SYHS, said he got on Simpson’s radar thanks to a couple of former teammates on Flight Academy, his club volleyball team.

“A couple of guys, my very best friends, were up there and said the coach was asking about me constantly,” he said. “I met with the coach (Steven Brasher), and he was really great. Plus, it’s a Christian school and I’m very religious, so that was awesome, and it seemed to good to be true.”

However, it was a visit to the Simpson campus that clinched it for Stuerman.

“I went up and had an amazing tour, and an amazing practice with the team,” he said. “The teammates were awesome, and the area was just really pretty. After that everything just kind of fell into place I had no doubt after the visit that I would be going there.”

Simpson is an NAIA school that competes in the California Pacific Conference with four other in-state college programs. The Red Hawks finished 7-17 overall this season, although they were .500 (4-4) within the CalPac. Stuerman said he plans to study kinesiology at the school and aspires to be a firefighter after graduation.

Alvaro, meanwhile, is coming off a high-school wrestling career that saw him win back-to-back CIF Central Section titles, having won the 126-pound championship this past February. He will continue wrestling at Southern Oregon a public university in Ashland, Oregon.

Alvaro had been hearing about SOU for awhile from a personal connection.

“My sister’s boyfriend went to school there, and she was always telling me how nice it was, and she took me for a visit,” Alvaro said. “It was really nice, and there were a lot of things to do outside of school. It’s real outdoorsy there, and I really liked that.”

The interest in Southern Oregon, as it turns out, was mutual.

“I had contacted a number of schools about joining their program,” Alvaro said. “And Southern Oregon was the one school that got back to me very quickly and showed a lot of interest.”

Alvaro said as far as a major and field of study, he is still undeclared and plans to take general requirement classes his first year while he decides.

The wrestler will be joining an SOU program that finished ninth in the NAIA Championships, it’s best finish in eight years. The Raiders had a 19-3 overall record in duals, including a 12-1 mark in the Cascade Collegiate Conference and a first-place finish in the conference championships.

Before Alvaro and Stuerman signed their letters of intent, they both took the time to thank their respective parents for their part in helping them along in this journey.

The parents of both were pleased with the schools that their sons selected.

“It’s great to see him reach this point — he’s been working toward this since he was 8 and started wrestling,” said Rudy Alvaro, Santino’s father. “We took him up to Southern Oregon and he like it right away; he’s gotten to know those guys up there and I think he’ll do well.”

With Santino ready to leave in a few months for SOU, the Alvaros are expecting more excursions up north.

“We’ll be taking trips, a lot of trips,” said his mother Isabella. “Me might even be looking at houses when we’re up there.”

For Stuerman’s parents, Shawn and Krista Sue, the process was made easier once Ben took a look at Simpson.

“It was a blast, but we just wondering what kind of school would be best for him, but once we went to Simpson we all knew that would be the best for him,” Shawn said.

“I actually went to school at Westmont [in Santa Barbara] years ago and was hoping he’d go there, too,” Shawn said laughing, “but they didn’t have a volleyball team, so that was out. However, we’re all very happy with Simpson.” 

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The NCAA announced on Thursday the accepted student-athletes for the first rounds of the 2025 NCAA Div. I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships, and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is sending a program-best eight Vaqueros to compete at the NCAA West First Round running May 28-31 in Bryan-College Station, Texas. 
 

The Vaqueros will have three track and five field student-athletes representing UTRGV in seven events at the postseason meet hosted at Texas A&M. Previously, the program record for NCAA West qualifiers was seven set in 2019.

Junior Nayla Harris will compete in the women’s 100-meter dash, while junior Corin Burns and freshman Richard Young will race in the men’s 200-meter dash. Junior Hannah Hilding is set to make her second consecutive NCAA West appearance in the women’s hammer throw and senior Efe Latham will take on the women’s shot put. Sophomore Keamonie Archie and juniors Aaron Cooper and Achol Maywin qualified for jumps. Cooper earned his second consecutive NCAA West bid in men’s triple jump, while Archie takes on men’s long jump and Maywin competes in women’s high jump. 

 

“We are always striving to get better, and this record number of qualifiers is the result of that unwavering drive for continued success. It’s become a habit for this group to set program bests,” head coach Shareese Hicks said.

The top 48 declared student-athletes are accepted into the East and West first rounds for individual events, and the top 24 declared relay teams are accepted. The top 24 declared heptathlon and decathlon competitors advance straight to the championship meet. The qualifying window was from March 1 to May 19. 

 

Harris, the 2025 Southland Conference (SLC) champion in the 100 (and indoors in the 60-meter dash) heads to College Station ranked 16^th in the West with her program and personal-best time of 11.22. 

 

Hilding is 30^th in women’s hammer with a mark of 59.44 meters, a personal best. She won the SLC championship in the event. Last year, Hilding finished 32^nd in hammer at NCAA West.  

 

Cooper is tied for 31^st in men’s triple jump with his program and personal-best mark of 15.48 meters. He was the bronze medalist at the SLC Outdoor Championships in the event. In 2024, Cooper finished 30^th at NCAA West. 

 

Burns and Young both head to NCAA West tied at 39^th on the men’s 100 performance list with a time of 20.79, which is a program record. Burns was the 100-meter dash silver medalist at the SLC Outdoor Championships. This is the junior’s second trip to NCAA West after qualifying for the meet in 2023 while competing at Incarnate Word. Young, a freshman, is UTRGV’s youngest qualifier. 

 

Maywin is one of three women’s high jumpers heading to NCAA West with a clearance of 1.77 meters. That mark is a program and personal record, which Maywin tabbed at the SLC Outdoor Championships as she earned silver. 

 

Latham captured the women’s shot put silver medal at SLC Outdoor Championships with a mark of 15.36 meters, which is a personal best and the mark which secured her spot at NCAA West. She is 46^th on the performance list. 

 

Archie also earned a silver medal at SLC Outdoor Championships with his personal-best mark of 7.52 meters, which has him heading to College Station ranked 46^th on the men’s long jump performance list. 

 

The NCAA East First Round also runs May 28-31 in Jacksonville, Fla. The top 12 finishers in each individual event and the top 12 teams in each relay will advance from the first round meets to the championship meet scheduled for June 11-14 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. 

 

UTRGV Schedule 

Wednesday, May 28 

Men’s long jump first round, 4:30 p.m. 

Keamonie Archie 

 

Men’s 200-meter dash first round, 8:45 p.m. 

Corin Burns 

Richard Young 

 

Thursday, May 29 

Women’s hammer throw first round, 10 a.m. 

Hannah Hilding 

 

Women’s 100-meter dash first round, 7 p.m. 

Nayla Harris 

 

Friday, May 30 

Men’s triple jump first round, 2:30 p.m. 

Aaron Cooper 

 

Men’s 200-meter dash quarterfinals, 7:50 p.m. 

TBD

 

Saturday, May 31 

Women’s high jump semifinal, 3:30 p.m. 

Achol Maywin 

 

Women’s 100-meter dash quarterfinals, 6:35 p.m. 

TBD

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Stony Brook men’s track and field student athlete Collin Gilstrap was announced as an individual qualifier for the NCAA outdoor Track and Field East Preliminary Round by the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country Committee on Thursday.

Gilstrap will compete in the 1,500-meter run for a second straight season at the 2025 NCAA East Prelims hosted by the University of North Florida from May 28-31 in Jacksonville.

His qualification comes after numerous stellar outdoor season performances, during which he defended his crown as CAA champion in the 1,500-meter, winning gold for a second year in a row.

Gilstrap made program history on April 18, breaking his own program record in the 1,500-meter run with an outstanding run at the Wake Forest Invitational (3:40.94).

In addition to his record-breaking run, Gilstrap added a first-place finish in the 1,500-meter run during the regular season. Winning the event at the Colonial Relays (3:47.39).

The 2025 NCAA Preliminary meets are from Wednesday, May 28, to Saturday, May 31, in Jacksonville, Fla. (East) and College Station, Texas (West). At the end of the second round on Friday, the field will be narrowed to 12 participants from each region. These individuals will advance to the NCAA Division I Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship hosted by the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore., from June 11-14.

For an inside look at the Seawolves track & field program, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.