Helen Lehman-Winters Head Cross Country Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Helen Lehman-Winters Head Cross Country Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
The Illinois men's and women's track and field teams have qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries, which will be hosted by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville from May 22 to 25. A total of 26 athletes from Illinois, comprising 12 men and 14 women, will participate in the event.
In this preliminary round, the top 48 individuals from their respective events qualify alongside the top 24 relay teams. The goal is to secure a spot among the top 12 times or marks and relays from both East and West Prelims to advance to the NCAA Championships scheduled for June 7-10 in Austin, Texas. The event will be live-streamed on SEC+.
Among those qualifying are all four women's long jumpers who achieved top-10 national marks: Sophia Beckmon (No. 2), Tacoria Humphrey (No. 4), Elizabeth Ndudi (No. 7), and Darja Sopova (No. 9). Humphrey recently won at the Big Ten Championships in long jump, while Sopova also qualified for triple jump with a No. 11 national mark.
Amber Simpson set a Big Ten record in hammer throw with a mark that ranks second nationally. Tori Thomas also secured a Big Ten title in pole vaulting with a record-setting performance at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
Jessica McDowell and Rose Yeboah head into prelims as gold medalists from recent Big Ten events; McDowell qualified for her performance in the 400m while Yeboah did so in high jump.
Aiden Ouimet continues his progression with an eighth-best national score in combined-events, while Tyler Sudduth qualified for shot put with an eighth-best national throw and is also competing in discus.
Freshman Cody Johnston advanced to prelims on the men's side with a ninth-best national vault performance. Kam Garrett rounds out notable qualifiers with an eleventh-best high jump nationally.
The list of Illini qualifiers includes Nicolas Dovalovsky (800m), Kam Garrett (High Jump), Cody Johnston (Pole Vault), Eleftherios Kontonikola (Javelin), Will Merrick (1500m), Viktor Morozov (Long/Triple Jump), Aiden Ouimet (Decathlon), Tadeas Placek (800m), Will Rezny (Shot Put), CJ Shoaf (High Jump), Tyler Sudduth (Shot Put/Discus) and Robert Williams (400mH) for men; Taylor Beard (High Jump), Sophia Beckmon (Long Jump/4x100m), Halle Hill (1500m), Tacoria Humphrey (Long Jump/4x100m), Phethisang Makhethe (Hammer Throw), Jessica McDowell (400m/4x100m), Mia Morello (Pole Vault), Elizabeth Ndudi (Long Jump/4x100m), Bara Sajdokova (High Jump) Amber Simpson(Hammer Throw) Darja Sopova(Long/Triple Jump) Asia Thomas(4x100m) Tori Thomas(Pole Vault) Rose Yeboah(High Jump).
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