Wildcats set to compete at their first NCAA West Region Preliminary

Thursday, May 24

Sacramento, Calif.

Abilene Christian

NCAA West Regional Championships

Wildcats set to compete at their first NCAA West Region Preliminary

5/23/2018 7:48:00 PM | Track & Field

LIVE RESULTS | SCHEDULE | HEAT SHEET | WATCH ($)

ABILENE – The road to the NCAA D1 Track and Field National Championship begins Thursday with 14 members of the Abilene Christian Track and Field program set to compete at the NCAA West Regionals at Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium.

Pole vaulter Jaden Dement will begin competition for the Wildcats as he competes in flight one of two at 4:30 p.m. PT. Following Dement will be the 400m trio of Avery Williams, Blaze Brownlow and Jared Williams (7:20 p.m.). Avery Williams will race in heat one, seeded with a time of 46.30, Brownlow in heat three and Jared Williams will run in the final heat (six) of prelims.

Twins Michaela and Alexandria Hackett are entered in the 10,000m run, which is slated to start at 9:40 p.m. with only one heat in the semifinal round.

The Wildcats begin Friday's competitions with four throwers in men's discus at 12 p.m. Morgan Knight, Ryan Simmons, and Josh Hunter will each compete in flight two, while Kai Schmidt will be in flight three. Schmidt enters the discus throw ranked ninth in the West Region with a mark of 191-2.

Following the men's discus throw is the women's discus throw at 4:30 p.m. with both Kayla Melgar and Lonnie Smith competing. Melgar enters ranked 12th with a toss of 182-1, while teammate Smith will throw in flight one.

In the quarterfinals of the men's 3,000m steeplechase, redshirt junior Ryan Cleary will run in the second heat at approximately 8:20 p.m.

Saturday Melgar and Smith will compete again in the first flight of the women's hammer throw at 12 p.m., while Schmidt and Knight will both throw the shot put.

The men's 4x400 relay team (A. Williams, J. Williams, B. Brownlow, R. Linton) will run in the third heat of the quarterfinals against Kansas, UT-Arlington, Northern Iowa, Baylor, Houston, Nebraska and UTSA. The 4x4 relay is slated to begin at 9:25 p.m. with three heats.

WATCH – NCAA track and field fans can watch a live stream of the NCAA Division I East and/or West Preliminary Championships as FloTrack Pro subscribers. The subscription will include access to all FloTrack live broadcasts, video on-demand from all events, documentaries, technique videos and more. Coverage of the preliminary competitions will be available May 24 - 26 at www.FloTrack.com.

Qualifiers
Men
Avery Williams (400m, heat 1/6)
Blaze Brownlow (400m, heat 3/6)
Jared Williams (400m, heat 6/6)
Ryan Cleary (3,000m Steeplechase, heat 2/3)
4x400m Relay (heat 3/3)
Jaden Dement (Pole Vault, flight 1/2)
Kai Schmidt (Shot Put, flight 3/4 / Discus Throw, flight 3/3)
Morgan Knight (Shot Put, flight 1/4 / Discus Throw, flight 2/3)
Josh Hunter (Discus Throw, flight 2/3)
Ryan Simmons (Discus Throw, flight 2/3)

Women
Michaela Hackett (10,000m)
Alexandria Hackett (10,000m)
Kayla Melgar (Discus Throw, flight 3/3 / Hammer Throw, flight 1/3)
Lonnie Smith (Discus Throw, flight1/3 / Hammer Throw, flight 1/3)