Courtesy of Wichita State Athletics
WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State track and field will send nine student-athletes to the First Round of the NCAA Championships May 22-25 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Ranking in the top 48 of declared athletes in the NCAA West Region earns athletes an entry to the NCAA West Preliminaries where they will compete to place in the top 12 to advance to the NCAA Championships (June 5-8).
The trio of Brady Palen, Destiny Masters and Marissa Jensen will compete in the high jump for the second-straight year after both Palen and Masters advanced from the prelims to the NCAA Championship in 2023. Masters also qualified to this year's NCAA West Prelims in the javelin and is one of two Shockers to compete in multiple events.
Jason Parrish and Bryan Haney will both race in the 400-meter hurdles, Haney's second-straight NCAA West Prelims appearance. The duo will race in the first round on Wednesday, May 22, and the top 24 from the first round will move on to Friday's quarterfinals.
Josh Parrish and Joseph Holthusen qualified in the 110-meter hurdles, Holthusen's first time back at the regional meet since 2019. Josh Parrish will also compete in the long jump.
Lucy Ndungu qualified in the 10,000 meters, where she will race in the semifinal for a chance to move on directly to the final in Eugene.
Farrah Miller is set to race in the first round of the 800 meters on Thursday for a chance to move on to Saturday's quarterfinals.
Advancing directly to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Masters has already punched one ticket to Eugene, Ore. with her top-24 national mark in the heptathlon. She ranks 14th with her score of 5,749 points from the Wichita State Combined Events meet earlier this spring.
ROAD TO EUGENE
The NCAA Division I Championships will take place June 5-8 in Eugene, Ore. at Hayward Field. This year for the west region, the road to Eugene goes through Fayetteville, Ark., where the top 48 individual athletes and the top 24 relays in the region will compete at the NCAA West Preliminaries (NCAA First Round) May 22-25 for a spot at the NCAA Championships. The top 12 in each event advance to the championship. Combined event athletes (heptathlon and decathlon) do not attend the First Rounds, but instead, the top 24 athletes overall advance directly to the NCAA Championship in Eugene.