By Layne Weitzel, TTU Sports Information
TAMPA, Fla. – Five Golden Eagles are headed to Florida to continue their 2017-18 track & field seasons this week at the NCAA East Preliminary.
NOTE: Due to expected weather in Tampa during the duration of the NCAA East Preliminary, some event start times have been revised. These changes are reflected below in Tech's event schedule and are current as of Thursday, May 24 at noon CT. Any further changes will be updated here.
D'Airrien Jackson, Micayla Rennick, Khemani Roberts, Na'Asha Robinson and Purity Sanga all secured top-48 qualifying marks and times through their regular-season meets, as well as in the OVC championship, and will represent Tech in four events at the preliminary in Tampa, Florida.
The NCAA announced its list of preliminary qualifiers last Thursday.
The NCAA East and West Preliminaries are the final stage before the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June. Qualifiers from the two regional preliminaries will advance to the national meet.
The University of South Florida and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission will jointly host the NCAA East Preliminary from Thursday, May 24 through Saturday, May 26 at the USF Track & Field Stadium.
|
ATHLETE |
EVENT | TIME/MARK | RANK IN EAST |
| D'Airrien Jackson | 400m dash | 53.42 | 38th |
| Micayla Rennick | 10,000m | 34:25.22 | 23rd |
| Khemani Roberts | high jump | 1.77m/5'9¾" | 24th |
| Na'Asha Robinson | 200m dash | 23.02 | 14th |
| 400m dash | 53.04 | 25th | |
| Purity Sanga | 10,000m | 35:11.23 | 44th |
Tech's five qualifiers and six entries are the most of any Ohio Valley Conference women's program this season and the most in school history.
Jackson and Robinson must finish in the top 24 in both the 200m and 400m dashes to advance to the events' quarterfinals. From there, the top 12 finishers qualify for the NCAA Championships in June. For Rennick, Sanga and Roberts, the top 12 finishers in the 10,000m run and high jump advance directly to the national meet.
