Five Miners are heading to the Track & Field Nationals while NMSU athletes miss out
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KVIA) -- The NCAA West Prelims finished up on Saturday and from the 21 athletes UTEP and NMSU took, five have punched their ticket to Austin for the NCAA National Championships.
The only athlete from Saturday to advance was UTEP's Marissa Simpson who clocked in a personal-best 12.94 to finish third in heat 2 of 100-meter hurdles. Her time ranked 6th overall on the day and is ranked No. 2 on the program’s all-time list behind Miner great Tobi Amusan (12.57).
Simpson is the first UTEP female 100-meter hurdler to advance to nationals since 2017 when Amusan sprinted her way to a national championship, clocking in a 12.57. Simpson’s previous best was Thursday when she recorded a 13.08.
Simpson was the fifth Miner to punch their ticket to the state capital after Arianne Morais (javelin), Roosa Yloenen (javelin), Jakub Belik (high jump) and Victor Kibiego (3000-meter steeplechase) did so on Thursday and Friday.
The NCAA Division I National Championships are in Austin at Mike A. Myers Stadium from June 7-10.
Other Results from Saturday:
100-Meter Hurdles:
- Ailayah Logan (NMSU) finished 15th overall with a time of 13.18.
400-Meter Hurdles:
- Loubna Benhadja (UTEP) finished 17th overall with a time of 58.64.
- Terice Steen (NMSU) finished 21st overall with a time of 59.11.
4x100-Meter Relay:
- UTEP finished 23rd overall with a time of 46.70.
4x400-Meter Relay:
- UTEP finished 18th overall with a time of 3:37:37.
200-Meter Dash:
- Jhana Downie (NMSU) finished 20th overall with a time of 23.33.
