Track & Field | May 23, 2019

Nathan Bultman qualified for the NCAA Championships in the men's hammer throw, Margaux Jones in the women's long jump and 13 Trojans advanced to NCAA quarterfinals tomorrow during the first day of the 2019 NCAA West Preliminary Rounds held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif. today (May 23).  To advance to the semifinals at NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas from June 5-8, an athlete or relay must finish in the top 12 at the West Preliminary Rounds.

• Nathan Bultman qualified for the NCAA Championships in the hammer throw, but it was not without a little bit of drama.  He had fouls in his first two attempts which meant he had to land a clean throw in his final attempt of at the time at least 207-3 (which turned out to be 210-3 after the final round).  Bultman was clutch, though, posting a season-best throw of 218-3 (66.53m) which moved him into fifth and by the time everyone had their final attempt, he finished sixth and advanced to NCAAs.
• Margaux Jones took a very similar route to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the women's long jump.  She had fouls in her first two attempts and needed a good, legal jump in her final round and then would have to await the final two sections of jumpers.  Jones nailed it in her final attempt with her collegiate-best jump under any conditions of 21-0.00/6.40m (+2.5w) to vault into the lead after the first two sections.  By the time the remaining 24 athletes had competed, Jones had the second-farthest qualifying jump and was moving on to Nationals.
• Anna Cockrell was the first Trojan on the track and she ran and won the sixth and final heat of the women's 400m hurdles with a time of 57.47 to automatically advance to tomorrow's NCAA quarterfinal in the event.  Her time turned out to be the fastest qualifying time.
• Cameron Samuel then won the sixth heat of the men's 400m hurdles with a time of 50.34 to automatically advance to tomorrow's quarterfinal.  His time was fourth among the qualifiers.  Noah Green, on his birthday, had a time of 52.38 to finish sixth in the second heat and 35^th overall.  He had to take a few choppy steps before the ninth hurdle which slowed his momentum or he would have had a personal-best time.
• USC's women's 100m dash runners took care of business to automatically advance to tomorrow's NCAA quarterfinal.  First, Lanae-Tava Thomas won the second heat with a PR of 11.18 (+0.5) and Angie Annelus took second in the same heat with a time of 11.23 (+0.5) to advance.  Thomas' time moved her to 10^th on USC's all-time list in the event.  Then, TeeTee Terry won the third heat with a time of 11.34 (+0.9) to automatically advance.  Thomas ended up with the fastest qualifying time, Annelus the second-fastest and Terry the seventh-fastest.
• Brendon Stewart had a PR of 10.31 (+1.9) to take third in the fifth heat of the men's 100m dash to automatically advance to tomorrow's quarterfinal  Alexander Barnum had a time of 10.47 (+1.8) to take sixth in the fourth heat and Daniel Robinson ran 10.66 (+1.2) to take eighth in the second heat.  Stewart advanced with the 10^th-fastest qualifying time, while Barnum finished 28^th and Robinson 45^th. Stewart was also the fastest freshman qualifier in the event and one of two to advance to the quarterfinal.
• All three of USC's women's 400m runners advanced to tomorrow's quarterfinal.  Roberts won the second heat with a time of 52.67 and Lear was third in the same heat with a time of 53.23 to automatically advance.  Kyra Constantine then won the third heat with a time of 52.17 to also automatically advance.  After all six heats, Constantine had the second-fastest qualifying time, Roberts the fourth and Lear the 14^th.
• USC's freshmen women's 800m tandem of Alyssa Brewer and Jemima Russell then automatically advanced to the women's 800m quarterfinal tomorrow with a great stretch run.  Brewer was second and Russell third in the fourth heat with times of 2:07.53 and 2:07.59 respectively to automatically advance.  They finished with the 14^th and 15^th fastest times among the qualifiers and as the two fastest qualifying freshmen.
• Not to be outdone, USC's men's freshman 800m runner Sam VanDorpe also finished strong to place third in the first heat of the 800m with a time of 1:49.90 to automatically advance to the quarterfinal tomorrow.  Two heats later, Isaiah Jewett would join him in moving on by winning his section with a time of 1:49.52.  After all six heats were concluded, Jewett had the ninth-fastest qualifying time and VanDorpe the 16^th. VanDorpe was the only freshman male in at the West Preliminary Rounds to reach the 800m quarterfinal.
• Joy McArthur had two fouls and then a mark of 194-6 (59.29m) in the women's hammer throw which was seventh after the first two sections.  She would have to wait it out to see if that mark would qualify, but after the third flight of throwers she had fallen to 21^st  and did not advance to the NCAA Championships in the event.
• Alexa Harmon-Thomas finished tied for 36^th in the women's high jump with a best clearance of 5-7.00 (1.70m).  She cleared that height in her third attempt, but missed on all three attempts at the next height of 5-8.75 (1.75m).
• Kamryn Weber had a time of 4:30.54 to place 10^th in the second heat and 42nd overall in the women's 1500m race.  The top five from each heat, plus the next four best times moved on to the quarterfinals.

Trojans in action tomorrow will be:

Men – Eric Allen Jr. (200m – first round), Isaiah Jewett (800m – quarterfinal), Marquis Morris (110m hurdles – first round), Omotade Ojora (110m hurdles – first round), Daniel Robinson (200m – first round), Cameron Samuel (400m hurdles – quarterfinal), Brendon Stewart (200m – first round, 100m - quarterfinal), Sam VanDorpe (800m – quarterfinal).
Women – Angie Annelus (200m – first round, 100m –  quarterfinal), Alyssa Brewer (800m – quarterfinal), Chanel Brissett (100m hurdles – first round), Anna Cockrell (100m hurdles – first round, 400m hurdles quarterfinal), Kyra Constantine (400m – quarterfinal), Karlee Freeman (discus throw), Dior Hall (100m hurdles – first round), Bailey Lear (400m – quarterfinal), Mecca McGlaston (100m hurdles – first round), Kaelin Roberts (400m – quarterfinal), Jemima Russell (800m – quarterfinal), TeeTee Terry (200m – first round, 100m – quarterfinal), Lanae-Tava Thomas (200m – first round, 100m – quarterfinal).