OSU Track and Field Heads West for NCAA Prelims

Thursday, May 24

SACRAMENTO, CA

Oklahoma State University

NCAA West Preliminary Round

May 23, 2018 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

MEET NOTES

The Basics
Twenty-one members of the Oklahoma State track and field program will take on the best the West has to offer in nine events this weekend at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Sacramento, California.
The regional event is a three-day meet set to take place from May 24-26.
Each individual event will have 48 competitors, relays will have 24 teams, with the top 12 advancing to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Follow the Meet
Live results for the 2018 NCAA West Preliminary Rounds will be available on NCAA.com.
To keep up with Oklahoma State's days in California, results and a full recap will be available on okstate.com following each day of competition.
Updates will be given on the team's twitter (@run4okstate) throughout the three days of action.

Broadcast Information
The NCAA West Preliminary Rounds will be live streamed on FloTrack.org with a subscription.
The broadcast will run throughout the three days of competition.

Meet Schedule – All Times CT
The 2018 NCAA West Preliminary Rounds are set to begin Thursday, May 24.
Oklahoma State will do a majority of its damage on the first day of competition.
The men's and women's 1,500 meters, men's 10,000 meters, men's pole vault and women's 800 meters all begin on the first day.
On Friday, Christian Liddell and Cheyenne Walden will take part in the men's and women's steeplechase. If qualified, the women's 800 meters quarterfinals will also take place at 8:45 p.m.
During the final day, the men's 1,500 meters have an opportunity to earn an NCAA bid in the quarterfinals. The men's and women's 4x400-meter relays will also compete late Saturday night for chances to punch their tickets to Tracktown, USA.
The Cowboys relay squad will take part at 11:25 p.m., while the Cowgirls' quartet will run at 11:45 p.m.
The full meet schedule can be found on page three of the meet notes.

Last Time Out – Wild Weekend in Waco
Oklahoma State track and field took on the best the conference had to offer in Waco, Texas at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships.
The lone champion came in the form of Ariane Ballner, who earned her first individual title in the women's 1,500 meters. After teammate Molly Sughroue fell with 500 meters to go, Ballner took over and ran to the win. Sughroue would get up and fight her way back to take second overall in the event.
Ballner is just the sixth Cowgirl in school history to win a conference title in the event. This also marks the fourth-straight year a woman has won the 1,500-meter run, dating back to 2015.
The Big 12 Championships also produced a 4x400-meter relay school record. The women's quartet of Amira Coleman, Nicolette Dixon, Ambra Wesley and Stephanie Ferrante earned the fastest time in OSU history in 3:37.02. The previous record was set at the Mt. Sac Relays in 1997.
Texas transfer Blake Scott had his best series of 2018 in the pole vault, clearing 5.28m/17-3.75. His mark slots him in sole possession of fifth overall in OSU outdoor history. His series also granted him the opportunity to take on the West region this weekend.

At the West Preliminary Rounds – 2017
Overall, eight Oklahoma State athletes qualified for Eugene, Oregon at last year's NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Austin, Texas.
The highlight of the meet being Jacob Fincham-Dukes' school record leap of 7.96m/26-1.5 in the long jump.
Two Cowboys in Josh Thompson and Craig Nowak and one Cowgirl in Kaela Edwards made their way to automatic bids to the NCAA Championships in the 1,500 meters.
Those three athletes would go on to become some of the most decorated athletes in program history.

Ripping the Relay Records
One of the most notable parts of the 2018 outdoor season has been the 4x400-meter relays, led by second-year coach Giles McDonnell.
McDonnell has coached the women's 4x400-relay teams to four top-10 times in school history in one season.
To begin the outdoor season, newcomer Nicolette Dixon, Amira Coleman, Danielle Coleman and Sarah Horan ran a 3:45.64 in the Tulsa Duels for the No. 10 time in school history.
A week later, a squad of Dixon, the Colemans and Stephanie Ferrante produced a 3:42.08 at the Arkansas Spring Invitational, good enough for fifth in OSU history.
In the past three weeks, the No. 2 and 3 times in OSU all-time have been earned. At the Michael Johnson Invitational, the two Colemans, Ferrante and Ambra Wesley ran the second-fastest time in OSU all-time at 3:39 flat.
Three weeks ago at the inaugural National Relay Championships, the quartet produced a 3:39.51 for No. 3 on the school's all-time list.
Last week, the obstacle was finally overcome, as the 4x400 quartet of Amira Coleman, Nicolette Dixon, Ambra Wesley and Stephanie Ferrante earned the fastest time in OSU history in 3:37.02. The previous record was set at the Mt. Sac Relays in 1997.

Obliterating Outdoors
The outdoor season has been one that's seen great success under Dave Smith. In his first season as cross country and track and field director, the Cowboys got their first individual outdoor champion since 1985 in German Fernandez. Fernandez took home the title in the men's 1,500 meters and still holds the school record mark in the event.
For the Cowgirls, 2016 was a historic outdoor year for Dave Smith's women's squad. The outdoor season produced five All-Americans: Aurora Dybedokken, Chase Ealey, Ingeborg Loevnes, Kaela Edwards and Savannah Camacho. That mark represents the most women's All-Americans in a single year in program history.
In 2017, the outdoor season saw more of the same, with the Cowboys and Cowgirls both producing three All-Americans.
For the men, the season was highlighted by Hassan Abdi's first Big 12 title, Jacob FIncham-Dukes setting the outdoor school record in the long jump and Josh Thompson's fourth-place finish in the NCAA Championships.
Some highlights of the Cowgirls' outdoor season were Kaela Edwards and Savannah Camacho's final Big 12 titles and Kaylee Dodd's fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships after finishing ninth overall in the indoor season.
Dave Smith's squads are in prime position to excel heading into regionals again this year.