Seven members of the Drake University track and field team travel to Austin, Texas, this week to compete for a spot in the NCAA Championship as part of the NCAA West Preliminary round. The top competitors in each event will advance to next month's NCAA Championship.
Three men and four women comprise the group that qualified for the West Preliminary by ranking in the top 48 of their respective events in the region.
Freshman Mary Young (Urbandale, Iowa), is the Bulldogs' top ranked athlete in the field as she enters her first West Preliminary competition ranked 14th in the region in the 100-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 13.30. The top three finishers from each heat and the next six fastest times will advance to the quarterfinals with the top three quarterfinalists and next three fastest securing a berth in the NCAA Championship field.
Also in the hurdles, Virginia Hill (Haymarket, Va.) will try to add to her outstanding junior season in the 400-meter hurdles by moving on to the quarterfinals. She currently owns a season best of 59.96, the 40th fastest time in the field. The men's team is represented in the 400-meter hurdles as well with MVC Champion Kai Asberry (Carrollton, Texas) ranking 23rd among West Preliminary qualifiers with a time of 51.33.
The Bulldogs will be represented by two athletes in distance events, including Brogan Austin (Boone, Iowa). The senior, who was the MVC runner-up in the event, will aim to add to his already decorated legacy by advancing in the men's 10,000 meters. Austin owns the 42nd fastest qualifying time in the field at 29:45.17. The top 12 fastest times in the event advance to the NCAA Championships.
Emma Huston (Des Moines, Iowa) will represent Drake in the women's 5,000 meters, an event that she ranks 40th in the field with a season-best time of 16:28.28 set at the Mt. SAC Relays. The top five times from each heat and the next two fastest times in the event advance.
A pair of triple jumpers round out the Bulldogs' contingent as Johnathan Osifuye (Woodbury, Minn.) and Kayla Bell (Bolingbrook, Ill.) try to leap into the top 12 of the preliminary field to advance. Osifuye owns a season-best jump of 49-6.25 while Bell is the reigning women's school record has recorded a wind-aided season best of 41-0.5 this season and has cleared a wind-legal 40-7.75 this outdoor season.
Below are the Bulldogs' West Preliminary qualifiers and when they are scheduled to compete.
Thursday, May 28
4:30 p.m. – Women's 400-Meter Hurdles – Virginia Hill
5 p.m. – Men's 400-Meter Hurdles – Kai Asberry
9:40 p.m. – Men's 10,000 Meters – Brogan Austin
Friday, May 29
5 p.m. – Women's 100-Meter Hurdles – Mary Young
7:30 p.m. – Women's 400-Meter Hurdles – Quarterfinals
7:45 p.m. – Men's 400-Meter Hurdles – Quarterfinals
Saturday, May 30
1:30 p.m. – Women's Triple Jump – Kayla Bell
6 p.m. – Men's Triple Jump – Johnathan Osifuye
7:05 p.m. – Women's 100-Meter Hurdles – Quarterfinals
8:05 p.m. – Women's 5,000 Meters – Emma Huston
