Track and Field Heads to NCAA West Prelims

Thursday, May 25

Austin, Tex.

All Day

Oklahoma State University

NCAA West Regional

May 24, 2017 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

MEET NOTES

The Basics
Oklahoma State sends 23 athletes to compete in 11 events this weekend at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Austin, Texas.
The three-day long meet acts as the first round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Those who advance past the finals on Saturday will clinch a position in the national semifinal, held in Eugene, Oregon, June 7-10.

Follow the Meet
The NCAA West Preliminary Rounds will have live results provided by Prime Time Timing.
The three-day long meet begins at 11 a.m. CT on Thursday with the women's hammer throw. OSU's first event of the regional will be the women's javelin featuring senior record-holder Megan Honas at 3 p.m. Thursday.
Jacob Fincham-Dukes competes in the men's long jump at 4:30 and the men's and women's 1,500 follow at 5 and 5:30. The women's 800 is scheduled for 8:10 and the men's 10K at 9:40 wraps up day one.
Friday's guaranteed entries will be Molly Sughroue and Ryan Smeeton in the women's and men's steeplechase at 8:20 and 9 p.m., respectively, and Ieva Zarankaite in the women's discus at noon.
Zarankaite comes back for the shot put at 6 p.m. Saturday and the men's 4X1 is the only other event for OSU on the final day heading into the weekend.
The schedule is subject to change following qualifications or scratches, so be sure to keep up with OSU on Twitter and follow the meet online.

Broadcast Information
Texassports.com hosts the live stream for this weekend's NCAA action.
The live streaming begins Thursday at 11 a.m. and runs until the conclusion of the men's 10K, which begins at 9:40.
Friday's stream starts at noon, and the first track event starts at 4:30 p.m. The men's steeplechase is the last event on Friday.
Saturday's stream runs from 1 p.m. to nearly 10 p.m. as the 4X400-meter relays close the event.

What to Watch For - Regional
The best in the west compete this weekend for a trip to Eugene. OSU enters the meet with six top-10 marks in the region, and only 12 athletes from each event will advance to national semifinals in June.
All five of OSU's outdoor conference champions will compete this weekend, including Jacob Fincham-Dukes in the long jump, Josh Thompson in the men's 1,500, Kaela Edwards and Savannah Camacho in the women's 1,500 and Hassan Abdi in the 10,000-meter run.
Edwards and Camacho are the only two returners who advanced past the West Prelim last year, but Kaylee Dodd, Thompson, Craig Nowak, Fincham-Dukes, Abdi and Brandon Singleton all competed for OSU at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this year.

Last Time Out
Oklahoma State brought home five conference titles at the Big 12 Championships.
Hassan Abdi won the first one for the Cowboys Friday night in the 10,000-meter run. He came back Sunday night and finished third in the 5,000-meter run.
Josh Thompson won his first outdoor conference title and fifth overall for OSU when he took the 1,500-meter title. He took second in the steeplechase.
Kaela Edwards and Savannah Camacho closed their conference careers with wins in the 1,500-and 800-meter runs, respectively.
Jacob Fincham-Dukes won OSU's first long jump title since 1962.
Overall the Cowboys finished sixth with 75 points and the Cowgirls finished eighth with 48.

Cowboys Head to Regional at No. 24
The Oklahoma State Cowboys enter the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds ranked No. 24 in the country, where they have held for the past three weeks.
The Pokes are the fifth-highest ranked team in the Big 12 behind No. 6 Texas Tech, 10th-ranked Kansas, Big 12 champion and No. 15 Texas, and 17th-ranked Baylor.
Josh Thompson leads the Cowboys into the regional as the high-point man on the team with his No. 3 1,500-meter time in the NCAA. Craig Nowak sits just behind Thompson at No. 5 in the nation in the same event.
Jacob Fincham-Dukes is the Cowboys' sole representative in the field, but the Big 12 long jump champion has the No. 4 mark in the event heading into the West Preliminary Rounds.
As for the Cowgirls, despite currently sitting at 90th in the country, the Cowgirls have five women in the 800-meter prelim and two in the 1,500-meter prelim. Ieva Zarankaite represents he Cowgirls in the discus and shot put, while Megan Honas will throw the javelin for the Cowgirls in Austin this weekend.

When to Watch OSU in Austin
The complete schedule of events is located on page three of the notes, but an OSU specific schedule is available below:

Thursday:
3 p.m. CT – Women's Javelin (First Round/Final)
4 p.m. – Men's Long Jump (First Round/Final)
5:30 p.m. – Women's 1,500m (First Round)
6 p.m. – Men's 1,500m (First Round)
8:10 p.m. – Women's 800m (First Round)
9:40 p.m. – Men's 10,000m (Semifinal)

Friday:
Noon – Women's Discus (First Round/Final)
6:30 p.m. – Women's 800m (Quarterfinal)
8:20 p.m. – Women's 3,000m Steeplechase (Quarterfinal)
9 p.m. – Men's 3,000m Steeplechase (Quarterfinal)

Saturday:
6 p.m. – Women's Shot Put (First Round/Final)
6:15 p.m. – Men's 4X100-Meter Relay (Quarterfinal)
6:30 p.m. – Women's 1,500m (Quarterfinal)
6:45 p.m. – Men's 1,500m (Quarterfinal)

The Wild, Wild West
Thirteen of the top-25 men's teams in the NCAA participate in the West Preliminary Rounds this weekend.

Four of the top-five women's teams come out of the West Region, including No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 4 Southern California and No. 5 Texas A&M.

The Cowboys have the joint-most entries in the 1,500-meter run with five, tied with Oregon.

The men's 1,500-meter run in Austin will feature 10 of the top-11 fastest times in the NCAA this season, including No. 1 Josh Kerr of New Mexico and No. 3 Josh Thompson.

Five of the top-eight long jumpers in the NCAA compete in the West Regional's prelim, including Jacob Fincham-Dukes with the No. 4 mark of 8.02m/26-3.75 feet.

The Cowgirls have the most 800-meter run entries with five.

The women of the West Region won 13 NCAA outdoor titles last year, including nine of the 12 running events.

The men of the West Region won 11 titles outdoors, including OSU's Nick Miller who won the men's hammer throw title.

Last season, OSU had a school-record five women advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships from the West Preliminary Rounds.

Savannah Camacho has advanced to the meet in Eugene, Oregon, in each of the past two seasons. She is running in the 1,500-meter run for the first time at the prelims.