The second day of the West Region Preliminary Meet was a great one for the Big West as eight athletes are heading to the NCAA Championships following excellent efforts on the track and in field events. The regional meet is being held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore.
UC Riverside's Allison Wilder and Cal Poly's Jasmine Pickett booked their trips to nationals after finishing second and 12th in the triple jump, respectively. Wilder put forth an effort of 43-04.5 (13.22m), while Pickett's showing of 41-10 (12.75m) came on her second and sixth jumps.
Long Beach State's Colin Dunbar, the 2011 Big West Field Athlete of the Year, found himself in the NCAA national meet after finishing fourth in the hammer. The hotly contested event had Dunbar record a top effort of 216-05 (65.96m), just a little over two feet from the best mark of the day.
In the running events, several athletes found themselves heading to the final or off to Drake for nationals of their respective events.
In the 100 hurdles, Cal State Fullerton's Lauren Williams is headed to the final after finishing third in her heat and 16th overall with a time of 13.68.
Williams' teammate Ciara Short booked her trip to the NCAAs after finishing third in her heat and fourth overall in the 400. She ran a time of 52.41, which was an improvement over her prelim round time of 53.11. Short also pulled double duty on the day as she qualified for the final of the 200 tomorrow after finishing third in her heat and 12th overall in 23.84.
The 800 had the familiar duo of UC Irvine's Charles Jock and UC Santa Barbara's Ryan Martin head to the NCAA Championships after their efforts. Jock won his heat and had the second-best time overall in 1:46.27, while Martin also found himself first in his heat with a time of 1:48.70. That was ninth-best in the field.
Speaking of duos, the UC Davis 400 hurdles pair of Thomas Phillips and Alex Wilright are off to nationals after finishing sixth and eighth, respectively. Phillips finished second in his heat with an effort of 50.22, while Wilright was third in his group at 50.47.