Joy McArthur Conditionally Advances To NCAA Championships; 17 Trojans Advance To Quarters

Joy McArthur in the women's  hammer throw conditionally qualified for the NCAA Championships and 17 Trojans advanced to women's NCAA quarterfinals on Saturday during the second day of the 2021 NCAA West Preliminary Rounds held at E.B. Cushing Stadium in College Station, Texas today (May 27).   To advance to the semifinals at the NCAA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. from Jun 9-12, an athlete or relay team must finish in the top 12 at the West Preliminary Rounds.  Today was the first day of the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds for the women, while the men's competition will conclude tomorrow.

• McArthur conditionally advanced to the NCAA Championships in the women's hammer throw with a best mark of 208-1 (63.43m) which she posted in the first round.  That mark was good for ninth overall, with the top 12 advancing.  However, the first flight of throwers protested the measuring in their flight and the whole group will get three more throws tomorrow morning.  They are seeded flights, and only two throwers from that group had a mark over 200-feet, so McArthur is actually in eighth place pending the conclusion of the first flight of 16 throwers. 
• Morgan Smalls and Lanae-Tava Thomas were the last Trojans in field events to compete today with a chance to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships, but they finished 15th and 18th respectively in the women's long jump.  Smalls had a best jump of 20-10-0/6.35m (+2.7w) in the second round which put her in 10th place, but by the time she went for her last attempt she had fallen to 14th.  Her final jump of 19-9.00/6.02 (+2.1w) was not an improvement and she finished 15th.  Thomas had a best jump of 20-8.00/6.30m (+3.2w) which earned her an 18th-place finish.  Their jumps would have finished 10th and 11th in the East Preliminary Rounds which were also contested today.
• The track portion of the meet began with the women's 100m hurdles and all three Trojans took care of business and earned automatic qualifying berths.  Anna Cockrell was first and won her heat with a wind-aided season-best time of 12.76 (+2.4w) to automatically advance.  Mecca McGlaston was next and she had a wind-aided season-best time of 13.05 (+2.2w) to win her heat and automatically advance.  Jasmine Jones then ran a wind-aided PR of 12.74 (+3.3w) to take second in her heat and automatically advance.  Jones was second, Cockrell fourth and McGlaston 11th among the qualifying times to the quarterfinal on Saturday.
• TeeTee Terry won her women's 100m dash heat with a season-best and E.B. Cushing Stadium-record time of 10.99 (+0.8) to automatically advance to the quarterfinal on Saturday.  Thomas also won her heat with a time of 11.19 (+2.0) to automatically advance.  Terry had the second-fastest and Thomas the eighth-fastest qualifying times.  Another runner had a wind-aided time of 10.91 and was the top qualifier, just after Terry set the official stadium record with her wind-legal time of 10.99.
• USC then had a huge result with all seven of its 400m runners advancing to the quarterfinal on Saturday.  Bailey Lear was first and she advanced by winning her heat with a PR of 51.48, her time moved her from eighth to seventh on USC's all-time list.  Kyra Constantine then won the third heat with a time of 51.42 to automatically advance.  Nicole Yeargin took second in the fourth heat with a time of 51.65 to automatically advance, while Kimberly Harris took fourth with a collegiate-best time of 52.50 to advance on time.  Kaelin Roberts won the fifth heat with a time of 52.08 to automatically move on.  Jan'Taijah Ford had a time of 52.59 to take second in the final heat to automatically advance and Rae-Anne Serville placed fourth with a time of 53.40 and advanced on time.  When all the racing was done, Constantine was second on time, Lear was fifth, Yeargin was sixth, Roberts 10th, Harris 11th, Ford 13th and Serville 23rd.
• Jemima Russell placed fifth in her women's 800m heat with a time of 2:08.64 and finished 32nd overall.  Alyssa Brewer had a time of 2:08.37 to finish eighth in her heat and 30th overall in the event.
• Anna Cockrell and Breanna Bernard-Joseph both ran in the fifth heat of the women's 400m hurdles and both automatically advanced to the quarterfinal Saturday.  Cockrell won the heat with a time of 58.05 and Bernard-Joseph used a late surge to capture third with a time of 59.38.  Cockrell ended up fifth on time among the qualifiers and Bernard-Joseph 21st.
• The final event for the Trojans on the day was the women's 200m dash.  All three Trojans automatically advanced to the quarterfinal on Saturday.  Terry won the third heat with a PR of 22.67 (+2.0) and moved from ninth to seventh on USC's all-time list.  Thomas took second in the heat with a season-best time of 22.86 (+2.0).  Angie Annelus then won the fourth heat with a time of 23.08 (+1.5) to advance.  On time among the qualifiers, Terry was fourth, Thomas eighth and Annelus 14th.

Tomorrow, USC's men's team will have 11 athletes competing in individual events trying to earn a berth at the NCAA Championships, as well as the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.  Trojans in individual events on Friday are:  Davonte Burnett (100m, 200m), Brian Herron (400m), Jalyn Jackson (TJ), Isaiah Jewett (800m), Tade Ojora (110m H), Nicholas Ramey (400m), Cameron Samuel (400m H), Jordan Scott (TJ), Earnest Sears III (HJ), Darryl Shaw (TJ) and Sam VanDorpe (800m).
 
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