Cougs qualify 22 individuals, two relay teams for NCAA West First Round

PULLMAN — Washington State men's and women's track and field will send a combined 27 student-athletes — 13 men and 14 women — to compete at the 2024 NCAA Division I West First Round, May 22-25, in Fayetteville, Ark. The Cougars' women's 4x100-meter relay team along with the men's 4x400 relay squad will also compete at next week's opening round of the 2024 NCAA Track and Field Championships, hosted by the University of Arkansas at John McDonnell Field.

Graduate student Maribel Caicedo posted a lifetime-best time of 12.61 seconds in the 100m hurdles last week at the Pac-12 Championships, setting the WSU school record, the Potts Field record, tied the Pac-12 Championships meet record set in 1988, and earned the Ecuadorian hurdler a qualifying time for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Caicedo enters the meet with the top qualifying mark in the West Region. Caicedo's fellow 100m hurdler, redshirt-junior Micaela De Mello, will be making her third-consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships First Round with the 18th-fastest qualifying time at 13.13 seconds. De Mello returns to the same venue where as a freshman, she broke WSU's 15-year-old record in a time of 12.98 seconds.

Additionally, on the women's side, WSU freshman 5000m runner Zenah Cheptoo enters the event with the 13th-faster time at 15:40.09, setting the school record earlier this season. Also competing with top 20 qualifying marks are 3000 steeplechaser Caroline Jerotich (16th), shot putter Nana Gyedu (16th), pole vaulter Eva Lowder (17th) and 400m runner Jasneet Nijjar (18th).

On the men's side, senior Jared McAlvey, who captured the 400m hurdles title at last week's Pac-12 Championships, enters the event with the sixth-fastest qualifying time at 49.95 seconds. This year marks the third-consecutive appearance for McAlvey at the NCAA Championships First Round. Graduate student Brian Barsaiya qualified in two events for next weekend's meet as he will compete in both the 5000m (#8) with a season-best time of 13:51.38 and the 10000m (#34) in 28:45.44.

Sophomore John Paredes enters next week with the 10th-fastest qualifying time in the 110m hurdles, clocking 13.42 seconds earlier this season. Senior decathlete Lee Walburn will compete this weekend as an alternate for the 4x400m relay team after punching his ticket straight to the finals in the decathlon. Th top 24 marks advance to the finals with Walburn entering the NCAA Championship Finals as the 14th-highest qualified with 7,649 points.

In addition to the individual qualifiers, WSU has two relay teams advancing to the First Round. On the women's side, the 4x100 relay team consisting of Caicedo, Nijjar, De Mello, Skyler Walter, Brooke Lyons and Elise Unruh-Thomas qualified with the 13th-fastest mark at 44.05 seconds. For the men, the 4x400 relay team, comprised of McAlvey, Walburn, Mason Lawyer, Ethan Willems, Grant Buckmiller and Kellen Langford.

The top 48 declared student-athletes in the national descending-order list in each event are accepted into the West Preliminary Round in addition to the top 24 declared relay teams. Multi events will not be contested at the NCAA First Round sites. For combined events (heptathlon and decathlon), the top 24 declared student-athletes in the national descending-order list will be accepted directly into the NCAA Championships.

The 2024 NCAA West First Round will begin Wednesday, May 22, and will be streamed live on ESPN + with the opening day's events slated to begin at 4 p.m.

2024 NCAA Division I West First Round
MEN
400 Meters
Grant Buckmiller (24th, 45.98)

5000 Meters
Brian Barsaiya (48th, 13:51.38)

10000 Meters
Brian Barsaiya (34th, 28:45.44)

110 Hurdles
John Paredes (10th, 13.42)

400 Hurdles
Jared McAlvey (6th, 49.95)

3000 Steeplechase
Kelvin Limo (34th, 8:48.93)

4x400 Relay
Willems, McAlvey, Lawyer, Buckmiller, Langford, Walburn (16th, 3:05.81)

High Jump
A.J. McGloflin (36th, 2.10m)

Shot Put
Ronald Grueso Mosquera (28th, 18.25m)

Hammer
Ben Chappell (32nd, 64.82m)

Javelin
Blake Sturgis (44th, 64.33m)

Decathlon
Lee Walburn (14th, 7649)

WOMEN
100 Meters
Skyler Walton (48th, 11.48)

400 Meters
Jasneet Nijjar (1th8, 52.37)

800 Meters
Neema Kimtai (43rd, 2:06.46)
Maya McCabe (44th, 2:06.66)

5000 Meters
Zenah Cheptoo (13th, 15:40.09)

100 Hurdles
Maribel Caicedo (1st, 12.61)
Micaela De Mello (18th, 13.13)

3000 Steeplechase
Caroline Jerotich (16th, 10:08.53)

4x100 Relay
Caicedo, Lyons, Nijjar, Walton, Unruh-Thomas (13th, 44.05)

Pole Vault
Eva Lowder (17th, 4.26m)
Tatum Moku (29th, 4.18m)

Shot Put
Nana Gyedu (16th, 16.81m)

Javelin
Laura Lindquist (25th, 50.45m)