Tigers Track And Field Heads To NCAA East Preliminaries

Thursday, May 26

Jacksonville, Fla.

University of Memphis

NCAA East Preliminaries

Photo by: Nikki Boertman

Tigers Track And Field Heads To NCAA East Preliminaries

May 25, 2016 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

School-record 16 performers to compete at the postseason meet.

NCAA East Preliminaries/Live Results

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The quest for NCAA track and field crowns begins this weekend for 16 University of Memphis student-athletes as they compete at the NCAA East Preliminaries in Jacksonville, Fla.

The NCAA East Preliminaries are set for Thursday-Saturday, May 26-28 on the University of North Florida campus. The Ospreys' Hodges Stadium is hosting the NCAA's three-day meet.

The 16 Memphis student-athletes competing at the NCAA East Preliminaries is a school record, breaking the previous mark of 14 set last season. Seven of this year's qualifiers are making their second-straight NCAA East Preliminaries appearance.

Senior Luis Hanssler, the three-time American Athletic Conference decathlon champion, already has qualified for the NCAA Championships, which is set for Eugene, Ore., June 8-11.

Memphis' 16 performers qualified for 18 events, with women's sophomore Martine Bye and men's junior Luke Vaughn both competing in two events. Bye qualified for the women's high jump and women's javelin, and Vaughn in the men's discus and men's shot put.

The Tigers' action kicks off Thursday at 11 a.m. (CT) with Bye, Ashley Pryke and Jasmine Wilson all competing in the women's javelin. Memphis is one of three schools with three qualifiers in the women's javelin (Auburn, Virginia Tech).

Later on Thursday afternoon, the track events begin at 3:30 p.m. (CT), and the Tigers have qualifiers in four races. Aaron Persinger starts the Tigers' run in the track events with the men's 400-meter hurdles at 4 p.m. (CT), followed by Martina Rodriguez Sala in the women's 1500 meters at 4:30 p.m. (CT).

The action turns back to the field at 5:45 p.m. (CT) Thursday with Sydney Wright competing in the women's long jump. Memphis' first day of action wraps up with Davon DeMoss in the men's 100 meters at 5:55 p.m. (CT) and Juan Paul Green in the men's 400 meters at 6:45 p.m. (CT).

On Friday, the action starts at 11 a.m. (CT) with Michael Criticos in the men's javelin. The field events continue at 3 p.m. (CT) with Rafael Vallery and Luke Vaughn in the men's discus, followed by Clara Amat-Fernandez, Dorina Baiker and Carolina Carmichael in the women's pole vault and Bye in the women's high jump. The women's pole vault and women's high jump both start at 4 p.m. (CT). Memphis is one of two schools at the NCAA East Preliminaries with three qualifiers in the women's pole vault (Akron).

The quarterfinal rounds for the men's 400 meters (Green), men's 100 meters (DeMoss) and men's 400-meter hurdles (Persinger) are slated for Friday late afternoon and early evening. The men's 400 meters is set for 5:15 p.m. (CT), with the men's 100 meters at 5:45 p.m. (CT) and the men's 400-meter hurdles at 6:45 p.m. (CT).

Saturday's events for Memphis get underway at 4:30 p.m. (CT) with Jordan Wesner in the men's high jump. Vaughn competes in his second NCAA Preliminaries event – men's shot put – at 5 p.m. (CT), and the final field competition has Chardae Greenlee in the women's triple jump at 5:30 p.m. (CT).

The lone track event for the Tigers Saturday is the women's 1500 meters quarterfinal round (Rodriguez Sala) at 5:30 p.m. (CT).

The Memphis men's and women's teams are coming off a rather successful American Athletic Conference Championships May 12-15. Five Tigers – Carmichael (women's pole vault), Criticos (men's javelin), Greenlee (women's triple jump), Hanssler (men's decathlon) and Vaughn (men's shot put) – brought back individual crowns to the Bluff City.

In addition to the individual titles, both squads performed well. The Memphis men's team placed third at the conference meet for its second top-three finish in the last three seasons. The Tigers women's squad scored 86 points and placed seventh. The team's 86 points were the most by a Memphis women's team at a league championships meet since 1996 (102 points).

The following is the Tigers' schedule for this weekend's NCAA East Preliminaries (all times Central):

Thursday, May 26
11 a.m.                Women's Javelin (Bye, Pryke, Wilson)
4 p.m.                   Men's 400m Hurdles (Persinger)
4:30 p.m.             Women's 1500m (Rodriguez Sala)
5:45 p.m              Women's Long Jump (Wright)
5:55 p.m.             Men's 100m (DeMoss)
6:45 p.m.             Men's 400m (Green)

Friday, May 27
11 a.m.                Men's Javelin (Criticos)
3 p.m.                   Men's Discus (Vallery, Vaughn)
4 p.m.                   Women's Pole Vault (Amat-Fernandez, Baiker, Carmichael)
4 p.m.                   Women's High Jump (Bye)
5:15 p.m.             Men's 400m/Quarterfinal Round (Green, if advances)
5:45 p.m.             Men's 100m/Quarterfinal Round (DeMoss, if advances)
6:45 p.m.             Men's 400m Hurdles/Quarterfinal Round (Persinger, if advances)

Saturday, May 28
4:30 p.m.             Men's High Jump (Wesner)
5 p.m.                   Men's Shot Put (Vaughn)
5:30 p.m.             Women's Triple Jump (Greenlee)
5:30 p.m.             Women's 1500m/Quarterfinal Round (Rodriguez Sala, if advances)