The next event will be the NCAA 1st round - the country is divided into East and West, with the top 48 athletes in each event (except multis) in each of the two regions qualifying for that 1st round. The West 1st round Will take place in Fayetteville in a couple of weeks. The top 12 in each event at the two sites will advance to the NCAA Championships, this year in Eugene.

Owls on the list (ranking in West)

Men

800 - Alex Weinheimer (44)
110 hurdles - Filip Drozdowski (42)
Long Jump - Justin Gross (46)
Pole Vault - Chris Pillow (8)
Javelin - Evan Karakolis (7)

Women

1500 - Heather Olson (35)
5000 - Cali Roper (51)
10,000 - Cali Roper (28)
Steeplechase - Heather Olson (9)
High Jump - Belle MacFarlane (41)
Pole Vault - McKenzie Johnson (8)
Triple Jump - Daisy Ding (20)
Shot Put - Claire Uke (5)
Discus - Claire Uke (28)

In other words, there will be 24 in each event at nationals.

The top 24 in both the Decathlon and Heptathlon advance automatically to Eugene, bypassing the two 1st round competitions.

It is my belief that Olson will compete only in the steeplechase. Roper likely will opt for the 10K (with a number of runners not declaring for the 5K, she likely would end up in the top 48).

Is that a larger than normal number of athletes qualifying for regionals from Rice? Maybe my memory is failing me (okay, it is), but that's a decently long list to root for.

And did anyone (particularly the decathlete - forget his name) get through to nationals already? Is his groin going to heal in time?

(05-20-2014 10:28 AM)gsloth Wrote:  Is that a larger than normal number of athletes qualifying for regionals from Rice? Maybe my memory is failing me (okay, it is), but that's a decently long list to root for.

And did anyone (particularly the decathlete - forget his name) get through to nationals already? Is his groin going to heal in time?

Scott Filip was not among the top 24. But, in future seasons, I expect that he will be.

I don't have any numbers in front of me, but, from my memory, it doesn't seem to be an unusual number of qualifiers.

Chris was tied for 9th in the Pole Vault Prelims. I'm assuming this advances him to the NCAA semifinals in Oregon.

9 Chris Pillow JR Rice 5.26m (17-3 )

Pole Vault
12 Mckenzie Johnson SO Rice 4.04m (13-3) -- advanced to Oregon

Shot Put
2 Claire Uke JR Rice 17.16m (56-3¾) -- advanced to Oregon

800
44 Alex Weinheimer SR Rice 1:54.37

Long Jump
45 Justin Gross JR Rice 6.51m (21-4¼ )

(05-29-2014 05:56 PM)dragon2owl Wrote:  Chris was tied for 9th in the Pole Vault Prelims. I'm assuming this advances him to the NCAA semifinals in Oregon.

9 Chris Pillow JR Rice 5.26m (17-3 )

Yes.
NCAA Championships.

Evan Karakolis finishes 3rd in the javelin (69.28 meters) to become the 4th Owl to qualify for the NCAA Championships!!

Cali is able to get the last spot in the 10000!

12 Cali Roper FR Rice 34:33.16 Q

Nice performances so far. Well done.

Women‘s discus (Claire Uke) going on now.

Steeplechase (Heather Olson) tonight at 9:30.

They might have some weather issues in Fayetteville tonight too.

Claire Uke was 14th in the discus with 169' 7", 3' 3" out of 12th. But, she'll go to Oregon in her better event, the shot put.

Heather Olson was way out of the running in the steeplechase, but I have no clue why she ran so poorly.

Congratulations to Belle MacFarlane, who will be heading to the NCAA Championships after finishing 5th in the high jump with a mark of 1.77 meters (5' 9¾").