Tarleton State Track and Field readies for first ever appearance at NCAA West Preliminary Rounds

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – For the first time in program history, 11 athletes will compete for Tarleton State at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds held at E.B. Cushing Stadium from Wednesday to Saturday.
 
The 11 Texans competing will be fighting to earn a top 12 performance in their respective event to reach the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships. In each event, the top 48 athletes that declared for their event earned a spot in the First Rounds. In the field events, there will just be one day of competition with the prelims and finals combined into one round and the top 12 athletes advancing to Eugene, Ore. For the track events, the 48 athletes will compete on the first day, Wednesday for men and Thursday for women. There will be 24 athletes advancing to the next day with the top three times in each heat and then the next best six overall times will earn a spot in the next round on Friday for men and Saturday for Women. On that day, the top 12 times will qualify for the NCAA Championships.
 
Each day, the track events will be streamed on ESPN+. Live Results will be provided for all events by flash results. Tickets are required for each day and are sold by the single day or by a pass for all four days of the meet. Follow @tarletontrackxc on Instgram and X for live updates, content and highlights across the four days.
 
The men’s long jump will kick off the competition for the Texans on Wednesday. Lokesh Sathyananthan and Sir Jonathan Sims will chase the Texans’ first NCAA Championships bid. The duo ranks in the top 12 entering the meet earning a spot in the fourth and final flight of 12. Sims best leap of 7.94 meters has him ranked fifth in the West. Sathyanathan holds the NCAA’s top mark of 8.14 meters. The pair is expected to start jumping around 5:45 p.m.
 
Also on Wednesday, two more Texans will lace up their cleats on the track. Ca’terrin Cox will race in the third heat of the 110 hurdles from lane eight at 6 p.m. He finished third and tied the school record at the WAC Championships in 13.77 seconds. David Mvundura is doubling in the 100 and 200. He will get started at 7 p.m. in the 100 meters running out of lane nine in heat five. Less than two hours later, he will be in the third heat of the 200 slate to start at 8:45 p.m. The senior will be in lane two. Both Cox and Mvundura will be searching for a top 24 time on the day to reach Friday’s next set of heats.
 
On Thursday, the recently named WAC Outdoor Female Freshman of the Year, Prestina Ochonogor, will be in search of her second NCAA Championships appearance in the long jump after earning First Team All-American at the Indoor Championships. Ochonogor tied the WAC Championships meet record en route to the gold medal last week. Her jump of 6.67 meters is ranked sixth in the West. She will be jumping in the fourth flight with an estimated start time of 5:45 p.m.
 
The WAC Outdoor Female Athlete of the Year, Victoria Cameron will be competing in the 100 and 200 on Thursday as well. First, she brings her fourth-best time in the region to the track in the 100 scheduled to start at 7 p.m. She is in the second heat of the 100 and will be running out of lane four. Three Texan women will be competing in the 200 slated to start at 8:45 p.m. Lauren Roy and Amandine Estival will be running in the first heat with Roy in lane six, and Estival in nine. Victoria Cameron will race in the sixth heat in lane five.
 
On Friday, Gabriele Tosti will be making his first appearance of the meet in the triple jump. Tosti and Sims will each compete in the fourth and final heat. Tosti enters ranked third in the NCAA and third in the West with his best leap of 16.39 meters coming at the Joe Gillespie Invitational. Sims is ranked ninth in the West and 18^th in the NCAA with a best mark of 15.99 meters. Also on Friday, Mvundura and Cox will hope to have run a qualifying time on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals in the 100, 200 and 110 hurdles on Friday. Each will have three heats with the 110 hurdles starting at 6:15 p.m., the 100 at 6:35 p.m. and the 200 at 7:50 p.m.
 
Saturday, Sofia DeGroot will make her debut at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds. She will compete in the first flight of the triple jump starting 2:30 p.m. She earned the bronze at the WAC Championships. Also competing for the first time on Saturday will be the 4×100 relay. The quartet consisting of Cameron, Roy, Estival and Hanna Dudley will race for a top 12 performance to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships. They will race at 5 p.m. in the third heat out of lane seven. The 100 quarterfinals will be ran at 6:35 p.m. and the 200 will be ran at 7:50 p.m., the final race of the meet for the Texans. If Cameron qualifies in the top 24 for the 100 and 200, she will be running three races in the span of two hours and 50 minutes on Saturday.
 
The Texans will look to secure their first bids to an NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. The NCAA Championships will begin on June 11 and end on the 14^th from Hayward Field.