Six Cougars Headed to Eugene for NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State men's and women's track and field teams get set to will send six individuals to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. (June 8-11).
Meet/Broadcast Info:
- Live Results | FlashResults.com
- Dates: June 8-11, 2022
- Location: Eugene, Ore. | Hayward Field
- Men's Day 1 (Wed): ESPNU - 4:30 p.m. (PST)
- Women's Day 1 (Thurs): ESPNU - 5:30 p.m. (PST)
- Men's Day 2 (Fri): ESPN2 - 6 p.m. (PST)
- Women's Day 2 (Sat): ESPN - 2:30 p.m. (PST)
- Full schedule of events here.
Last Time Out- NCAA West Preliminary Recap:
Name NCAA W Prelims (Finish)
- Colton Johnsen 3000m steeplechase - 8:38.24 (9th)
- Mitch Jacobson High Jump - 2.18m (3rd)
- Jacob Englar Pole Vault - 5.29m (9th)
- Micaela De Mello 100m Hurdles - *12.98 (12th)
- Aislinn Overby High Jump - 1.81m (12th)
- Valentina Barrios Bornacelli Javelin Throw - 51.63m - (11th)
* = WSU RECORD HOLDER
WSU Notables:
- Micaela De Mello (13.03 - 100m hurdle), Aislinn Overby (1.82m - high jump) and Valentina Barrios-Bornacelli (51.45m - javelin) are among the top WSU women on the list of Cougar entries while Colton Johnsen (3000m steeplechase - 8:34.33), Jacob Englar (pole vault - 5.32m), and Mitch Jacobson (high jump - 2.17m) headline the men's entries.
- Colton Johnsen and Mitch Jacobson head into the week as the two returning members of the eight-person '21 WSU group to compete at last season's outdoor nationals. Johnsen (3000m SC), Paul Ryan (1500m) and Stephanie Cho (400m hurdles) each followed up last season's NCAA preliminary rounds with All-American performances at the 2021 NCAA Championships.
- Johnsen, a transfer who began his collegiate career at Eastern Washington, will look to become Washington State's first back-to-back All-American in the steeplechase since former Olympic Gold Medalist Julius Korir was a back-to-back All-American in the steeplechase in 1983-84.
- De Mello, a native of Palhoça, Brazil and the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, has lowered the freshman and program record in the 100m hurdles four times this season including her 12.98 to finish 12th overall at last week's NCAA West Preliminary Round. Broke a freshman record that had stood for 15 years in her first outdoor race of the season with a 13.28 in prelims of the 100m hurdles at the Baldy Castillo and followed up with a school record (13.08) to win the event in her finals heat. She has since dropped the 100m hurdles record time three more times en route to her first-career NCAA Championships appearance as a true freshman.
- Jacob Englar took home the Pac-12 title earlier this season in the men's pole vault, becoming the first individual WSU conference champion since 2019 and the fourth men's pole vault conference champion in school history. He followed up his conference title with a 5.29m - 17'-4.25" finish to place ninth against the NCAA West Preliminary competition.
- Jacobson heads into the week as the mosts experienced of the WSU qualifiers at the outdoor championships as he gets set to make his third-career nationals appearance this week at Hayward Field. The native of Walla Walla, Wash., cleared 2.15m/7'-0.5" in his first-career NCAA Championships back in 2019, finishing 19th overall as a sophomore. He tied his personal best jump of 2.18m/7'-1.75" at the NCAA West Preliminary competition to earn his spot at Hayward Field.
- Valentina Barrios-Bornacelli, a true freshman from Columbia who represented her country in the javelin at the 2021 Pan American Games, recorded the 32nd-best throw of the outdoor season -- 51.45m/168'-9" to finish fourth at the Baldy Castillo Invitational, her first collegiate meet.
- After narrowly missing the cut at the 2021 NCAA West Preliminary Round, Aislinn Overby gradually worked her way into form and over the 2022 outdoor season. With jumps of 1.82m/5'-11.5" at the WSU-UW Dual (1st-place) and 1.81m/5'-11.25" (12th-place) at the NCAA West Preliminary competition, she propelled herself further into the WSU top-10 list -- she is now tied for seventh all-time at 1.82m -- and earned her first-career trip to the NCAA Championships.
- Rono & Lindgren Inducted to USTFCCCA Hall of Fame: Former world record holders and WSU All-Americans, Henry Rono ('81), and Gerry Lindgren ('68), will be formally introduced as members of the USTFCCA Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame Class of 2022. Rono and Lindgren are part of the 30 track and field athletes chosen as the first class of inductees who were honored on Monday night at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.
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