Nine Track And Field Tigers NCAA Championships Bound

Wednesday, June 6

Eugene, Ore.

All Day

University of Memphis

NCAA Championships

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference)

Nine Track And Field Tigers NCAA Championships Bound

Jun 05, 2018 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Memphis action at the national meet in Eugene, Ore., begins Wednesday.

NCAA Championships/Live Results
NCAA Championships/Webstream

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A University of Memphis track and field program-record nine performers are on their way to Eugene, Ore. – also known as TrackTown USA – for the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships June 6-9. The University of Oregon's historic Hayward Field is the site for the national meet.

However, setting records is more the norm than the exception for the Tigers in 2018. Eight school marks fell during the campaign, including the 40-year-old 4x400-meter relay and 45-year-old 4x100-meter relay records.

The records didn't stop there. After the men's team tied its highest finish (runner-up) at the American Athletic Conference Championships in mid-May, the Tigers sent a program-record 23 athletes to the NCAA East Preliminaries two weeks later. The previous record was 19 postseason qualifiers in 2013.

Tigers Tidbits/NCAA Championships "Need To Know" Notes

Nice To See You Again: Four Tigers are making return appearances to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA Championships. Michael Criticos (men's javelin) and Ashley Pryke (women's javelin) are back for a second-straight year. Luke Vaughn (men's discus) returns after his last appearance in 2015. Ryan Champlin, a member of the 4x400-meter relay, qualified for his second-straight NCAA Championships, but his first as a Memphis Tiger. Champlin, a transfer from TCU, ran in last year's national meet as a member of the Horned Frogs' 4x400-meter relay.
Tigers' First-Timers: While four Tigers are not new to the NCAA Championships, five are competing on the national stage for the first time. Martina Rodriguez Sala (women's 1500m) and Rafael Vallery (men's discus) qualified for the national meet after previous attempts came up short. Calvin Austin III, Naaman Norment and Jarred Pasley all advanced to the NCAA Championships as members of the 4x400-meter relay.
Record-Setting Tigers: Of the nine Tigers heading to Eugene, eight hold school records in their respective events. The 4x400-meter relay of Calvin Austin III, Ryan Champlin, Naaman Norment and Jarred Pasley set the school record (3:08.13) in the event at the NCAA East Preliminaries May 26. Luke Vaughn broke school records in the men's discus (204-0; 62.18m) and shot put (61-11.75; 18.89m) earlier this season, and Martina Rodriguez Sala set her school mark in the 1500 meters (4:16.09) at the NCAA East Preliminaries May 26. Michael Criticos (235-9; 71.85m) and Ashley Pryke (186-9; 56.93m) hold the men's and women's javelin school records, respectively, and both marks were set prior to 2018.
Academically-Honored Tigers: Two NCAA Championships Tigers also were honored recently for their efforts in the classroom. Ashley Pryke and Rafael Vallery were two of six Memphis performers named to the Google Cloud/College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District III Team. All six Tigers now qualify for the national ballot. Pryke owns a 3.88 grade-point average (GPA) as an exercise, sport and movement sciences major, and Vallery graduated from the University of Memphis May 5 with a degree in finance and a minor in accounting. Vallery posted a 3.99 GPA.
All-Americans Abound: Of the nine Tigers heading to Eugene this week, four already have earned All-America honors on previous trips. Ashley Pryke leads the All-America contingent with a first team accolade in 2017. Pryke earned the honor with her bronze-medal performance in the women's javelin a year ago. It was the highest finish by a Tigers female athlete since Susan King won silver in the women's shot put in 2008. Michael Criticos (men's javelin; 2015, 2017) and Luke Vaughn (men's discus; 2014, 2015) both have two All-America second team honors on their résumés. Ryan Champlin received All-America honorable mention recognition as a member of TCU's 4x400-meter relay at the 2017 NCAA Championships.

Tigers' NCAA Championships Schedule

Day/Date	Time (CT)	Event	Tigers athlete(s)
Wednesday/June 6	7:45 pm	Men's Javelin	Michael Criticos
	10:48 pm	Men's 4x400m relay	Calvin Austin III, Ryan Champlin, Naaman Norment, Jarred Pasley
Thursday/June 7	6:16 pm	Women's 1500m	Martina Rodriguez Sala
	7:15 pm	Women's Javelin	Ashley Pryke
Friday/June 8	7:05 pm	Men's Discus	Rafael Vallery, Luke Vaughn
	9:51 pm	Men's 4x400m relay (if advance)	Calvin Austin III, Ryan Champlin, Naaman Norment, Jarred Pasley
Saturday/June 9	5:41 pm	Women's 1500m (if advance)	Martina Rodriguez Sala