Casarotto Advances to NCAA Championships on Day Two of West Prelims
College Station, Texas – Day two of the NCAA West Preliminaries saw senior thrower Ilaria Casarotto secure NCAA Championship qualification in the javelin, a performance that headlined a strong collection from the Bruins in College Station on Thursday.
Throws
Casarotto will make her first appearance at the NCAA Championships following an 11th-place finish in the javelin on Thursday. She went 50.76m (166-6) on her second attempt to secure qualification to the National Meet. Casarotto is coming off an historic performance at the Pac-12 Championships (May 14), where she broke UCLA's school record in the event with a lifetime-best mark of 53.09m (174-02).
Wilson notched her best throw on her second attempt in the hammer, going 69.30m (227-04) to currently hold second place. Flight 1 of the hammer was not completed due to a technical error.. If Wilson's position holds, she would qualify to compete at the National Meet in the hammer for the third time in her career. Wilson also competed in the shot put on Thursday, finishing 21st overall with a toss of 15.98m (52-05.25).
Lauren McFall's season came to a close in College Station as she finished 22nd overall in the javelin with a mark of 47.90m (157-02). The Tigard, Ore., native etched her name in the UCLA record books earlier in the year, moving into fifth place all-time in program history with a mark of 48.62m (159-06) set at the West Coast Classic (Apr. 17) at Hayward Field.
Sprints / Hurdles
Shae Anderson posted the top qualifying time of the day in the 400m hurdles at 56.50 and secured qualification to Saturday's quarterfinal round. Anderson is coming off a second-place finish in the event at the Pac-12 Championships (May 16) with a time of
Meleni Rodney cruised to a second-place finish in the first heat of the 400m, advancing to Saturday's quarterfinal with a time of 51.95
Maddy Doane notched a pair of career performances on Thursday. She flew to a huge PR at 11.48 in the 100m, just missing a spot in Saturday's quarterfinal round with a 27th-place finish. She finished 29th in the 200m with a lifetime-best time of 23.41.
Makenzy Pierre-Webster was 32nd in the 200m, crossing with a lifetime-best time of 23.49.
Middle Distance
Kate Jendrezak's individual season came to a close after a 28th-place finish in the 800m (2:07.77). Jendrezak took fourth in the 800m at the Pac-12 Championships on May 16, clocking the fourth-fastest time in UCLA history in the event at 2:04.46.
Day Three – NCAA West Preliminaries
Day three will feature entirely men's competition in College Station. The men's high jump will be the first event of the day at 11:00 a.m. PT. The 4x100m relay qualifier will be the first track event of the day, with the first heat scheduled for 3:30 p.m. PT.
A live stream of day three's action will be available at ESPN.com, with the coverage expected to begin with the start of the 4x100m relay competition.