Meet: NCAA National Preliminaries (West First Round)
Location: John McDonell Field - Fayetteville, Arkansas
Date: May 27-30
Streaming: ESPN+

Start Lists: https://flashresults.ncaa.com/Outdoor/2026/FirstRounds/West/starts.pdf

Live Results: https://flashresults.ncaa.com/Outdoor/2026/FirstRounds/West/index.htm


General Meet Preview
It's regionals time or national preliminaries time or NCAA First Rounds time! Either name, the road to Eugene and the Outdoor Championships begin here! This meet is one of two regionals meets taking place simultaneously. In NCAA Track, the country is split into two regions: west and east. The Aggies being in the west along with universities and colleges west of the Mississippi (and Illinois and Wisconsin).

To qualify for this meet, the top 48 athlete's with season best marks that are entered in said event qualify. So I'm every individual event there will be 48 athletes. In the relays it will be 24 relays. For the multi events, they just take the top 24 in the country and send them to the national finals in Eugene. 12 from each region will advance to the national finals. Every race besides the relays, the steeplechase, the 5000, and 10000 will have a first round that will eliminate half the field to 24, then the national quarterfinals where the top 12 are selected.

For the first rounds, every race 100-800 including the hurdles, there will be 6 heats of 8 runners. The top 3 in each heat will advance, plus the next 6 fastest times. For the 1500, it's 4 heats of 12, the top 5 in each heat plus the 4 fastest other times will advance.

For the national quarterfinals, every race 100-800 including the hurdles and relays, will be 3 heats of 8 runners. The top 3 on each heat, plus the 3 next fastest times will advance to the national finals in Eugene. Same advancement for the steeple, although it's 3 heats of 16 each. In the 1500, there's 2 heats, top 5 in each heat plus the next two fastest times will advance. Same advancement for the 5000, but there's 2 heats of 24. In the 10000, there's one heat of 48 and the top 12 advance. For field events, throws and horizontal jumps, each competitor gets 3 attempts, top 12 advance. For high jump and pole vault, 12 highest marks advance. Bar keeps rising till 12 are left.

So as Aggie fans our job is to hope anyone in an Aggie uniform performs their absolute best and advances through. Each day I'll have a preview of what events will be contested and who we need to watch out for. Also keep in mind this is a 4 day meet. It will be men only on days 1 and 3, then women on days 2 and 4. We want to get as many Aggies as we can advanced to Eugene. Sometimes you can win a national championship with a few individuals, but it's always better to have more bullets at the gun fight. Below I have compiled who's competing for us and where they rank in each event. Let's hope it's a great weekend for Aggie Track and Field.

Daily previews will come out the night before each day of competition

Men Qualifiers

100
25. David Foster

400
5. Lawson Jacobs
10. Kimar Farquharson
26. Eric Hemphill
38. Musa Isah
41. Demarco Escobar

800
4. Peter Narumbe
13. Reece Sharman-Newell
14. Stefon Dodoo
32. Grant Ashby
35. Ondrej Gajdos

5000
34. Michael Moiben

10000
27. Michael Moiben

110 Hurdles
4. Ja'Qualon Scott
24. Jasiah Rivera
27. Dj Taylor

400 Hurdles
1. Ja'Qualon Scott
48. Dj Taylor

4x100
14. Texas A&M

4x400
2. Texas A&M

High Jump
4. Etoro Bassey

Pole Vault
7. Aleksandr Solovev
19. Leo Bowen
19. Oleg Ananev

Long Jump
9. Khybah Dawson

Triple Jump
17. Daniel Falode
32. Jaden Harris
33. Jaydon Shield

Discus
40. Ethan Sanders

Hammer
9. Henry Zimmerman

Javelin
1. Prosper Nnamdi
9. Sam Hankins

Women Qualifiers

100
5. Camryn Dickson
22. Anya Jackson
25. Aysha Shaheed
26. Jasmine Montgomery

200
1. Camryn Dickson
3. Anya Jackson
15. Jasmine Montgomery

400
8. Lacarthea Cooper
13. Jahnile Registre
26. Tyler Lowe
29. Peace Nwaelehia

5000
36. Megan Roberts

10000
19. Megan Roberts

100 Hurdles
2. Jaiya Covington

3000 Steeplechase
3. Debora Cherono
36. Emma Little

4x100
2. Texas A&M

4x400
2. Texas A&M

High Jump
16. Bradie Menegatti
22. Milena Chevalier

Pole Vault
23. Lily Carlson
34. Ava Riche

Long Jump
4. Morgan Davis
40. Machaeda Linton

Triple Jump
15. Machaeda Linton

Shot Put
28. Carlie Weiser

Discus
5. Abigail Martin
41. Carlie Weiser

Hammer
28. Jayla Hooper

Javelin
6. Katelyn Fairchild
10. McKenzie Fairchild
31. Ana De La Garza

Obligatory post because multi eventers that are top 24 qualify to nationals in Eugene. Blake Harris has already qualified!

BLAKE HARRIS PACK YOUR BAGS FOR EUGENE

Day 1 Preview
Today is all about the men! Only men will race today and a few will compete in a few field events. The field events and the 10000 meter run will have an opportunity to punch their tickets to Eugene.

The first field event is at 9am and that is the hammer throw, where Henry Zimmerman goes in ranked 9th in the west. The west is loaded in this event and Zimmerman will need to be close to his personal best to qualify. I think the senior is experienced enough. The past two years he was only a few feet from qualifying, but he's improved this season at Texas A&M.

We will have men competing in 3 other field events today: the long jump at 1:45, then the pole vault and javelin at 8pm. We will have only one athlete in the long jump in senior Khybah Dawson. Like Zimmerman, Dawson is coming into this meet ranked 9th as well. Dawson has been battling injuries throughout this season, but the meet before conference he jumped 26 feet. However, only getting 3 attempts it's important he hit the board and get some clean jumps in. The closer to 26 the better his chances will be!

Way late into the night will be the pole vault and javelin. Two very important events for us. In the pole vault, reigning ncaa champ Aleksandr Solovev has had a quiet outdoor season. He's 9 inches from his personal best and he's ranked 16th in the ncaa. We all know at his best he can get us 10 points at nationals, but we need him to get back to 19 feet. Competing with him are Leo Bowen and Oleg Ananev. Bowen and Ananev come in ranked 19th, just outside the top 12. Their bests this season are 17'8. Last year 17'5 was enough to make the top 12. However, they'll need to be at their best to assure themselves a spot. Simultaneously the javelin will be taking place and there we have the ncaa leader Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi competing and Sam Hankins who's ranked 9th in the region. Nnamdi can qualify will a 3 step toss lol, Hankins has qualified for this meet 3 times and always seems to do well in bigger meets. His consistency should get him through, having both advance will be great for us, as well as Solovev and 1 or 2 other pole vaulters. At 8:10, the lone race that can punch some tickets to Eugene will take place, the 10,000. There we will have Michael Moiben competing. Moiben is ranked 27th and unfortunately 8 of the ncaa's top 10 are all competing as well. But in long distance races, it's not about time, but racing. A slower pace can lead to anything. Moiben is a smart racer who's willing to put himself in a good position. He's better at the 10k than the 5k.

Everything else on the track begins at 1pm for some reason. In every race aside from the 1500, the top 3 in each heat plus the next 6 fastest times will advance to Friday's quarterfinal. The first race will be the 110 hurdles. Ja'Qualon Scott is ranked 4th and should easily qualify with a smooth clean race. Also competing for us are freshman Jasiah Rivera and DJ Taylor who come in ranked 24th and 27th. So both have a chance at making the quarterfinal, but they need to be at their best or better. Rivera is 4th in his heat and Taylor 5th. So they'll need to perform better or try to get a time qualified. These two freshman have a bright future and I'm excited to see what they do. We won't have anyone in the 1500, but we'll have David Foster alone in the 100. He goes in ranked 25th but in the 100 the times are always so close. He hasn't hit his personal best this year, but if he does he puts himself in a great spot to advance to friday's 100.

The next 3 races will be huge for us, the 400, 800, and the 400 hurdles. In the 400, we'll have 5 Aggies racing: Lawson Jacobs, Kimar Farquharson, Eric Hemphill III, Musa Isah, and Demarco Escobar. They come in ranked 5th, 10th, 26th, 38th, and 41st respectively. Although Jacobs has been battling injuries, so we'll see how healthy he is. At his best he should easily get through both days. Farquharson will be competing in his first 400 at this meet after many years qualifying in the 800 here. I'd love to see him easily get top 3 in his heat and even advance on Friday. Hemphill is ranked 4th in his heat while Isah and Escobar are both ranked 7th. I want some personal bests.

In the 800, we'll also have 8 Aggies compete: Peter Narumbe, Reece Sharman-Newell, Stefon Dodoo, Grant Ashby, and Ondrej Gajdos. They are ranked 4th, 13th, 14th, 32nd, and 35th. But like races 800 and above, rankings and best seem to go out the window and what matters most is racing. Narumbe should easily win his heat. Dodoo is ranked 3rd in his heat and has been running extremely well this outdoor season. Sharman-Newell hasn't hit his 1:45 personal best, but I believe his experience will get him through. Ashby is a strong racer and I think he can run well. He is in heat 1 which isn't the ideal spot when hunting for a time qualifier. Gajdos is in heat 2 with Dodoo and Colin Sahlman of NAU. We need at a minimum 3 to advance to Friday's quarterfinals.

Right after will be the 400 hurdles, where Ja'Qualon Scott still has the ncaa leading time, although he didn't run his best race at conference. He could jog and qualify. He has a 1.7 second gap to the second best guy in his heat. DJ Taylor qualified in the 48th spot and will be in lane 9. I want to see him get a personal best and swing first the fences.

There won't be anyone in the 200, from which there's a 4 hour gap to the 10,000. So we'll have some afternoon track to follow along with. The goal is to get as many guys as we can to advance to Friday's quarterfinal. So top 3 in their heat to secure a spot or a time close. Field events, I want at least 6 Aggies punching their ticket, although it's gonna be a battle. Nnamdi, Scott, Solovev, and Narumbe are our best bets at scoring at nationals so we need to get them advanced through! Let's hope we get to announce some tickets punched and I get to tell some Aggies to PACK YOUR BAGS! The road to a national championship starts now. BTHO the WEST!!!

HENRY ZIMMERMAN PACK YOUR BAGS!
TICKET PUNCHED!

Zimmerman goes 216'8 on the last throw to move into 10th and punch his ticket to Eugene! Zimmerman a 2x time indoor national qualifier in the weight throw, finished 19th and 20th at this meet e last two years. He qualifies for his first outdoor national finals!!

Ja'Qualon Scott easily wins his heat and advances to Friday's quarterfinals! 13.32 with no wind and he looked smooth and calm! If he can win the 400 hurdles and score in the 110's, boy do we get a chance at a national championship

Freshman DJ Taylor hits a huge personal best and goes 13.62 to advance to Friday's quarterfinal alongside Ja'Qualon Scott in the 110 hurdles!

David Foster is second in his heat in the 100 with a 10.18 to automatically qualify to the quarterfinals on Friday

Lawson Jacobs struggles out of the blocks and pulls up 300 meters in… he's clearly not healthy but you have to salute the man for trying to give it a go

A HUGE LIFETIME BEST RUN FOR KIMAR FARQUHARSON

45.18

Musa Isah gets a time qualifier with a PB as well going 45.93! Hemphill III stays in also!

GRANT ASHBY WOW! Went into his 800 heat ranked 6th and finishes 2nd with a huge kick

GO GRANT!!!

Stefon Dodoo gets second in his heat as well to advance to Friday

The mid's are bringing it today !

Peter Narumbe easy heat win

Julio von Matterhorn said:

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The mid's are bringing it today !

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800U....

.Gig'em!