COLLEGE STATION, Texas – University of Missouri track and field’s Valentina Barrios punched her ticket to the national final in women’s javelin while Alicia Burnett advanced to the quarterfinals in the 100m after running a school-record 11.13 on day two of the opening round of the NCAA Championships at E.B. Cushing Stadium on Thursday. 

Barrios, a junior, followed up her Southeastern Conference Championship performance with a fifth-place result of 56.71m (186-0). She joins Callan Saldutto in Eugene, Oregon, the site of the final rounds of the NCAA Championships, as the two will compete for the school’s first national championship in javelin on either the women’s or men’s side.

After setting the school record in the 100m on April 18, Burnett topped it by a tenth of a second to finish in ninth and earn a spot in the quarterfinals of the event. She competes next on Saturday at 6:35 p.m.

Day two again started with the hammer throw, where Reagan Kimrey led the Tigers in 30th place with 57.17m (187-6) to conclude her freshman season. Petra Gombas closely followed with a throw of 55.03m (180-6), claiming 38th.

Senior Kaesha George capped off her campaign in 18th in women’s javelin after throwing 47.58m (156-1). Led by Barrios, the squad was rounded out by Val Galligan in 29th place (45.77m/150-2) and Morgan Cannon in 45th (36.29m/119-0).

In the track events, Burnett took 34th in the 200m in 23.63, while freshman Monica Wanjiku capped off her stellar freshman season with an 18th-place result in the 10,000m, finishing in 34:49.42.

UP NEXT

The Tigers continue postseason action at round one of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday, May 30, beginning with the men’s discus at 1 p.m., where Skylar Coffey and Tarique George will represent Missouri.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS

For all the latest on Mizzou Cross Country and Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the teams on Facebook, Instagram and X (MizzouTFXC).

Heading into this weekend’s State Track and Field Championships, the California Interscholastic Federation made a rule change to appease the Trump administration’s furor over a trans athlete being allowed to participate.

This weekend is the California Interscholastic Federation’s high school State Track and Field Championships in Clovis, California, an event which, to be honest, we do not normally cover. But the stakes at this competition are incredibly high this year, for reasons that have very little to do with track and field.

The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is ginning up outrage that a trans female athlete is competing, so much outrage that they’re planning a full-on Department of Justice investigation into the matter. The administration is also threatening to withhold “large scale” federal funding from the entire state of California over the matter.

Visalia’s KMPH reports that Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce jumped into the dispute, hoping to sway Gavin Newson to step in and ban the high school student from competing. “Just this morning, President Trump posted on social media about our state finals saying that what is about to happen here in Clovis is ‘not fair’ and reminded everyone Gov. Newsom said that too,” Pearce said in a Tuesday statement. “A biological male will be competing against our girls and he is favored to win the state title in at least one event.”

“Is favored to win?” Are oddsmakers really setting favorites on high school track and field competitions in the Fresno area, or did Diane Pearce just make that up out of whole cloth?

Either way, the response has been fairly swift. Sacramento’s KCRA reports that the California Interscholastic Federation has crafted a new compromise rule that would allow the trans athlete to compete, but would not allow any “biological female” student-athletes to be eliminated from competition by that trans athlete.

“Under this pilot entry process, any biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section’s automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet, was extended an opportunity to participate in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships,” the federation says in their new policy. “The CIF believes this pilot entry process achieves the participation opportunities we seek to afford our student-athletes.”

Governor Gavin Newsom, known recently for cozying up to right-wing anti-trans sentiment, seems pleased with the compromise move.

“CIF’s proposed pilot is a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness,” Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement. To Politico. “The Governor is encouraged by this thoughtful approach.”

But will this work to appease Trump and his administration? I’m guessing it won’t! While conservatives argue this is about protecting women athletes from discrimination, the political game here seems more about using the trans community as a wedge political issue, and punishing states that acknowledge that trans people exist. And if that’s the goal, reasonable compromises might not be possible, or even desired.

Related: Judge Won’t Block San Jose State From Conference Volleyball Tournament Over Alleged Transgender Player [SFist]

Image: A group of young women on the starting line, focused and ready to sprint at full speed. Training starts for their next track and field competition. (Getty Images)

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Prestina Ochonogor became the second Texan in as many days to qualify for the NCAA National Championships at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds at E.B. Cushing Stadium on Thursday.
 
Along with Ochonogor punching a ticket to Eugene, Victoria Cameron earned a berth in Saturday’s quarterfinals in both the 100 and 200. Cameron will be in the 24 women field in each event in hopes of posting a top 12 finish to earn a spot in Eugene in each event.
 
“I’m so proud of this young lady right here,” said head coach Bobby Carter” “Again, I’ve told my athletes, it’s all about surviving and advancing. Today she did just that! There will be much more to come.”
 
WAC Female Freshman of the Year, Prestina Ochonogor, became the second Texan to punch her ticket to Eugene. Ochonogor increased her leap on each of her three jumps. She started with a 7.33-meter jump on her first attempt. Her second attempt just posted a 7.47-meter mark which would have been enough to qualify, but she wasn’t done yet. The Benin, Nigeria, native, then posted a 6.66-meter jump just a centimeter shy of her school record. The leap qualified Ochonogor for nationals with the second-best leap in the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
 
“I want to thank God and I am very grateful from the beginning to the end,” said Ochonogor after punching her ticket.  “I want to thank my family and coaches. Go Texans, I love you! See you in Oregon!”
 
Ochonogor is not new to the big stage. This past summer at 17 years old, she represented Nigeria at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the long jump. She placed 12^th in the stacked field and was one of the youngest track athletes at the Games. The freshman will be making her second appearance at an 2025 NCAA National Championships after earning a First Team All-American honor earlier this year. She finished eighth in the long jump at the indoor championships.
 
The 2025 WAC Female Outdoor Athlete of the Year, Victoria Cameron earned a spot in both the 100-meter and 200-meter quarterfinals on Saturday with her Thursday night performances. First, the sophomore won her heat in the 100 in 11.07 seconds and qualified for Saturday with the sixth best performance. In her first race of the day, the Stephenville native narrowly broke her school record again, coming within .02 seconds. The Texan is the only athlete from a non-Power Four Conference among the top 18 qualifiers in the 100.
 
Less than two hours later, Cameron punched her ticket for Saturday in the 200 meters. The sophomore finished second in her heat crossing in 23.19 seconds. She posted the 17^th fastest time in the 48 women field. She will punch a ticket to the NCAA Championships in Track Town USA by being among the top 12 runners in the field of 24 in each event set to run on Saturday.
 
A pair of Texan women also competed in the 200. Lauren Roy finished 32^nd in the field in 23.56 seconds. Amandine Estival crossed in 23.79 seconds to earn 38^th overall.
 
Friday, the Texans will be in hopes of punching a pair of tickets to Eugene in the men’s triple jump. In the final day of the men’s NCAA West Preliminary Rounds, both Sir Jonathan Sims and Gabriele Tosti will be competing in the triple jump. The duo will be competing in the fourth flight, estimated to start around 3:45 p.m. Tosti enters as the third ranked jumper in the nation and Sims boasts the ninth best jump in the West.
 
On Saturday, Cameron will be running in three events all with the chances to punch herself a ticket to Oregon. She will start in the 4×100 relay scheduled to run at 5 p.m. with her teammates, Hanna Dudley, Amandine Estival and Lauren Roy. She will then run in the third heat of the 100 meters slated to start at 6:35 p.m. Her final race of the day will be in the 200 racing out of the first heat at 7:50 p.m. Sofia DeGroot will make her NCAA West debut in the triple jump at 2:30 p.m.
 
With just two days left at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds, the top 12 in each event on each of the final two days will earn themselves a trip to Eugene. The Purple and White have four individuals still looking to punch their tickets to Eugene, Ore., as well as a four-women relay team. The NCAA National Championships will be held at Hayward Field from June 11-14.
 
 
 

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Day two of the 2025 NCAA West Regional wrapped up for the UT Arlington track and field team which was highlighted by Winnie Kipsang moving on to the quarterfinals in the women’s 800m.
 
In a crowded 800m field which featured six heats, Kipsang won heat 4 with a qualifying time of 2:04.95. Kipsang was in the back of the pack about 300m in before making her move, moving up two spots after 400m. In the final stretch, Kipsang gave it all she had to take the lead in the final 100m and win her respective heat. Kipsang’s time was the 11th fastest overall and moves on to the quarterfinals on the fourth and final day of the west regional on Saturday, May 31. It was her second fastest time in the 800m this outdoor season.
 
The lone Maverick to compete in multiple events, Adeyemi Talabi, was in action in both her events of the long jump and the 100m dash. Talabi finished with her second-best jump of the outdoor season, leaping 5.75m. In the 100m dash, Talabi finished in the top 40 with a time of 11.53, her fourth fastest mark of the outdoor season.
 
In the first round of the women’s 100m hurdles, Zaire Moore finished with a time of 13.73, her fifth fastest mark of the outdoor season.
 
The Mavs return to the track on Friday, May 30, with the second and final day of action for the men. Calen Jones is set to compete in the high jump which is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m.
 
The women will return to action on Saturday, May 31, with Kipsang competing in the quarterfinals of the 800m which is set to begin at 7:05 p.m.
 

– #BuckEm –

 
FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the UTA track and field and cross country teams on X (formally known as Twitter) (@UTAMavsTFXC), Instagram (@UTAMavsTFXC) and Facebook (/UTAMavsTFXC).
 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.— Obiora Okeke punched his ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Thursday afternoon at the NCAA East Regionals hosted by the University of North Florida.

Okeke needed a top-12 finish in his event to qualify for a spot in the finals in Eugene, Oregon. He did so in the first round of the shot put, finishing in fourth place overall. After fouls on both his first two throws, Okeke clutched up on his third and final throw with an impressive mark of 19.52m (64-1) to punch his ticket. 

 

This will mark Okeke’s second straight appearance at the NCAA Championships. 

The results for the entire weekend can be found HERE, including the times from every Lion competing in Jacksonville.  

Okeke will advance to compete in the finals of the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The meet is set to begin on Wednesday, June 11th. 

The schedule will be released soon.

Still to compete at East Regionals will be Madison Williams, taking part in the first round of the long jump at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. 

In the evening session on Thursday, Rory Clare will get things started in the first round of the 1500m at 6:30 p.m. Lucy Henkel will then compete in the first round of the 800m at 7:50 p.m. Both will look to advance to the quarterfinals of each event which will take place on Saturday evening. 

Okeke will compete in his third event of the weekend, the first round of the discus, on Friday at 1 p.m.

The full schedule for every event can be found HERE. Follow along with live results HERE. Tickets are available HERE. Stream information for all four days can be found HERE. 

COLUMBIA NCAA EASTERN REGIONAL RESULTS

Women

800m: Lucy Henkel (TBD)

1500m: Rory Clare (TBD)

Long Jump: Madison Williams (TBD)

 

Men

1500m: Matt Gatune (43rd – 3:47.45)

Hammer: Obiora Okeke (44th – 58.82m)

Hammer: Parker Kim (42nd – 59.25m)

Shot Put: Obiora Okeke (4th -19.52m) TICKET PUNCHED!!

Discus: Obiora Okeke (TBD)

 

Stay up to date on all things Columbia track & field by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsXCTF), Instagram (@culionsxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).

ERIE, Pa. – Penn State Behrend women’s water polo junior Darragh Martin (Green Lane, PA/Upper Perkiomen) and sophomore Makenzie Rickerd (Rockford, MI/Rockford) were selected 2025 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Division III All-America Honorable Mention.

Martin, an All-CWPA Second Team selection, led the Lions with 41 goals. She also tallied 37 steals, 16 assists, six drawn kickouts, and five sprint wins. This marks the second straight year that she has earned this honor.

Rickerd, a first time All-American, recorded 39 goals, 27 steals, 18 assists, and 12 drawn ejections in her second collegiate season. She was also named to the CWPA All-Tournament Team.

The ACWPC All-America award is a prestigious honor that recognizes athletes nationally and throughout all collegiate divisions. This award is presented to water polo athletes who exhibit immense talent in the pool, provide leadership, and have helped build and advance the sport.