TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Arizona track and field program is sending 28 athletes to Sacramento, Calif. to compete in the three-day NCAA West Preliminary Round beginning on May 23rd.
 
Sacramento State will host the NCAA West Preliminary Championships for the second straight season. The top 48 athletes from the western half of the country, in every individual event, and top 24 relays, will compete over one or two rounds in Sacramento to try and finish in the top 12. Those that place in the top 12 continue on to the NCAA Outdoor final site in Austin, Texas from June 5-8.
 
"We are very excited to take probably our largest number of athletes to the first round of the NCAA Championships since this format has been in place," said head track and field coach Fred Harvey. "We feel very strongly that if we get there and do our jobs that we will have well over 90% of people progress to the finals. From the relays to Jordan Geist in the throws to our high jumpers, we feel very good about what we are bringing to the table. Carlos (Villarreal) will narrow it down and run the 1500-meters, we really expect him to move forward. Bailey Roth is building more and more confidence and hopefully it culminates into him being in the finals and challenge for the National Title."
 
Coverage: A complete recap of the NCAA West Preliminary Round will be posted to ArizonaWildcats.com following the competition. You can follow @ArizonaTrack on Twitter for live updates.
 
Last Time Out: The Cats hosted the Pac-12 Championships. The men finished third with a score of 94 points. Individually, Jordan Geist won the shot put on the men's side and Karla Teran won the high jump title for the ladies.
 
Double Him Up
Sophomore Jordan Geist will compete in the shot put and hammer throw events this week. The Arizona record holder holds the top NCAA mark in the shot put with a toss 21.59m (70-11) set at the Triton Invitational. He set a PR in his last outing in the discus throw with a toss of 56.980m (186-11) to rank 21st in the West Region.
 
Harvey's Hurdlers
The Cats have six entries in the hurdle events. James Smith, the Arizona 400-meter hurdle school & freshman record holder, highlights the group competing in the postseason. He holds a mark of 49.93 clocked in his last outing at the Pac-12 Championships to rank eighth on the NCAA list.
 
A Lot of Laps
Bailey Roth & Carlos Villarreal highlight the distance entries for the Cats. Villarreal holds the No. 2 1500-meter run mark on the NCAA & Arizona lists this season in 3:37.22. Roth holds the No. 7 3000-meter steeplechase time in 8:38.68.
 
Fresh off a Pac-12 Championship
Karla Teran, who won the 2019 Pac-12 High Jump Championship, leads five Cats competing in the discipline this week. She won the conference title with a mark of 1.88m (6-2) to tie the No. 2 mark on the NCAA list this season.
 
Four in the 400
Four Cats are slated to compete in the 400-meter dash this weekend. Tatum Waggoner & Diana Gajda will compete on the ladies side and Umajesty Williams & Zakee Washington will represent the men. Waggoner ranks 21st in the west & Gajda follows in 23rd. Williams ranks 16th in the west & Washington follows in 19th.

Relays
All four relay teams qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary round. Both the men's 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay team rank eighth in the west this season. The ladies 4x400-meter relay team holds the No. 6 spot and the 4x100-meter relay team ranks 18th.
 

THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2019
	FIELD EVENTS
12:00PM	HAMMER	Men	1st Round	Grayson Fleming
12:00PM	JAVELIN	Women	1st Round	Kaelyn Shipley
3:30PM	HIGH JUMP	Women	1st Round	Karla Teran, Diana Ramos, Alexa Porpaczy
3:30PM	LONG JUMP	Men	1st Round	PJ Austin
	RUNNING EVENTS
4:30PM	400 HURDLES	Women	1st Round	Karolina Pahlitzsch, April Sutton, Shannon Meisberger
5:00PM	400 HURDLES	Men	1st Round	Maksims Sincukovs, James Smith
6:00PM	1500 METERS	Men	1st Round	Carlos Villarreal
7:20PM	400 METERS	Women	1st Round	Tatum Waggoner, Diana Gajda
7:45PM	400 METERS	Men	1st Round	Umajesty Williams, Zakee Washington
Friday, MAY 24, 2019
	FIELD EVENTS
4:00PM	DISCUS	Men	1st Round	Jordan Geist
	RUNNING EVENTS
4:30PM	100 HURDLES	Women	1st Round	Tiana Bonds
5:30PM	400 METERS	Women	Quarterfinal	Diana Gajda, Tatum Waggoner
5:45PM	400 METERS	Men	Quarterfinal	Umajesty Williams, Zakee Washington
7:00PM	400 HURDLES	Women	Quarterfinal	Shannon Meisberger, Karolina Pahlitzsch, April Sutton
7:15PM	400 HURDLES	Men	Quarterfinal	James Smith, Maksims Sincukovs
9:00PM	3000M STEEPLE	Men	Quarterfinal	Bailey Roth

 

Saturday, May 25, 2019
	FIELD EVENTS
2:45PM	SHOT PUT	Men	1st Round	Jordan Geist
4:00PM	HIGH JUMP	Men	1st Round	Justice Simmerset, Justin Lewis
	RUNNING EVENTS
6:00PM	4 x 100 RELAY	Women	Quarterfinal	Bonds, White, Waggoner, Howard
6:15PM	4 x 100 RELAY	Men	Quarterfinal	Volpe, Austin, Washington, Williams
7:20PM	100 HURDLES	Men	Quarter Final	Tiana Bonds
8:05PM	5000 METERS	Women	Semifinal	Jennie Baragar-Petrash
9:25PM	4 X 400 RELAY	Women	Quarterfinal	(Zakee,, Maksims, James Maj)- MK, Daniel
9:45PM	4 X 400 RELAY	Men	Quarterfinal	Meisberger, Gajda, Waggoner, Pahlitzsch

 
 
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