DALLAS, Texas – Twenty-two Conference USA student-athletes punched their tickets to the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships following the East and West NCAA Preliminary meets this past weekend. The national championships take place June 8-11 in Eugene, Ore., at Hayward Field.
On the men’s side, C-USA will be represented by 10 student-athletes in 10 events. Middle Tennessee standout
Alaba Akintola advanced in both the 100m and 200m out of the East preliminaries. He opened the meet with the fourth-fastest first round 100m time of 10.06 (+1.3) and followed with a 10.18 (-0.6) in rainy and windy conditions to advance. In the 200m, Akintola clocked a wind-aided 20.61 in the finals for the 10
th-best time of the meet.
UTEP’s
Jevaughn Powell earned a spot in the 400m finals after posting the fastest time in the first round with a 45.52 and clocking a personal-best 44.87 in the quarterfinals, which was the second-best overall to advance to Eugene. C-USA will have two student-athletes in the 110m hurdles as
Bashiru Abdullahi of UTSA had a 13.52 (+0.6) for the third-fastest time in the west and
Justin Leaston of Charlotte finished seventh in the east with a 13.59 (-1.5).
Five will represent C-USA in the men’s field events with
Jemuel Miller (UTSA) earning a spot in the triple jump after finishing ninth with a season-best leap of 16.06m (52-8.25) on his third and only clean leap of the day.
Rice will see both
James McNaney (javelin) and
Alex Slinkman (pole vault) compete in Eugene following standout performances. McNaney, the C-USA outdoor champion in the event, will be making his second-straight nationals appearance after he posted a throw of 67.29m (220-9). Slinkman cleared his second-best height of the year at 5.29m (17-4.25) to finish 10
th after being seeded 21
st in the west prelims.
In the high jump, Middle Tennessee's
Omamyoui Erhire and Southern Miss All-American
Corvell Todd both advanced out of the east high jump as Erhire cleared 2.18m (7-1.75) and Todd cleared 2.15m (7-0.5) to earn their spots in Eugene. Rounding out the men’s competitors is UTSA’s
Christiaan Le Roux in the long jump as he reached 7.69m (25-2.5) on his second attempt to finish 12
th overall, just a centimeter ahead of 13
th place.
For the women, 12 will represent C-USA at TrackTown USA in June. Two will be competing in the 10,000m as Rice All-American and 2022 C-USA Champion
Grace Forbes posted the fastest time of either regional in the event with her 33:35.30 to finish first in the west. Charlotte’s
Louise Lounes also earned a spot in the 10k after finishing 12
th in the east with a 34:36.11.
This year’s C-USA champion in the javelin earned a spot in the national championships as
Rhema Otabor of FIU threw for 52.42m (172-0) to finish with the fourth-best throw in the east and punch her second-straight ticket to Eugene. In the west javelin competition, UTEP’s
Arianne Morais threw a PR as a Miner with a mark of 51.04m (167-5) on her third and final attempt to finish in 10
th.
Another C-USA champion will also be making the trip, as Rice’s
Tara Simpson-Sullivan posted a throw of 67.87 (222-8) to finish fifth in the hammer throw and advance to nationals. Her teammate,
Erna Gunnarsdottir will be heading to Eugene for the first time with Simpson-Sullivan as she placed 12
th in the shot put with a toss of 16.93m (55-6.5).
FIU will have another representative in
Filippa Miller, who cleared a personal-best 4.31m (14-1.75), which was the highest clearance of the day in the east but finished ninth due to jumps taken to achieve the mark.
In the women’s high jump, Middle Tennessee
Abigail Kwarteng cleared the leading height of 1.84m (6-0.5) to finish tied for first and punch her ticket to Eugene. Her teammate and C-USA champion
Esther Isa posted a 13.07m (42-10.75) leap into the wind in the triple jump to finish seventh and advance. She is joined by Southern Miss’
Marquasha Myers who jumped 12.98m (42-7) to place ninth and qualify for Eugene.
On the track, Middle’s
Eusilia Chepkemei clocked a 4:12.65 in the 1,500m to finish fifth and punch her first ticket of the day. She followed with a MTSU program record time of 15:52.54 in the 5,000m to finish 10th and double up on events she’ll compete in at Hayward Field.
UTSA’s
Danielle Spence recorded a leap of 13.41m (44-0) in the triple jump at the west regionals to secure her spot in the national championships by finishing ninth.
The 2022 NCAA Championships will be held June 8-11 in Eugene, Ore, at Hayward Field.