Terps Get Hot Start in Day One at NCAA Prelims
5/23/2019 10:10:00 PM | Track & Field
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mikella Lefebvre-Oatis and Jewel Smith punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships while Xahria Santiago, Alexandra Lucki, and Kameron Jones advanced to the next rounds of their respective events on the first day of competition at the NCAA East Preliminaries at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida.
Mikella Lefebvre-Oatis started the day off for the Terps in the high jump and got things started off on the right foot, quickly leaping to the mark needed to advance to NCAA Championships in two weeks in Austin, Texas. Lefebvre-Oatis's mark of 1.75m is her third-best mark of the season and was the second-highest clearance of the NCAA East Preliminary.
Next, Alexandra Lucki competed in the 1500m run, her first event of the NCAA East Prelims, and ran a 4:19.11 en route to the next round, seeking a bid to the NCAA Championships. Lucki will run in the 1500m quarterfinal on Saturday evening and will also run in her second event, the 5K, on Saturday.
Xahria Santiago, who is making her second appearance at NCAA Prelims, ran her second-best time of the season (58.41) in the 400m hurdles and will advance to the quarterfinals tomorrow.
Alice Barnsdale closed out her first season as a Terp with a strong throw of 58.73m in the hammer throw. She completed her outdoor season with three wins and nine top-10 performances in the hammer throw, and will gear up for an exciting junior campaign.
Kameron Jones, who has had a remarkable season both as a member of the 4x400m relay team and also competed in the 400m and 800m dashes, ran a 46.58 in the 400m and placed third in his heat to move on to the next round tomorrow evening.
Closing out the day with another exceptional performance, Jewel Smith punched her ticket to the NCAA Championships in the long jump with a leap of 6.06m. Smith will make her second-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championships in two weeks in Austin, Texas.
Tomorrow, Kameron Jones and Xahria Santiago will hit the track for their second time of the NCAA East Prelims and Greg Thompson, the Big Ten Champion in the discus, will attempt to punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships for the third-straight year. Last year, Thompson finished as the NCAA runner-up in the discus.
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