The University of Akron Athletics
Thursday, May 24
Tampa, Fla.
University of Akron
vs
NCAA East Preliminary Round
Trio of Zips Garner NCAA Track and Field Championship Berths
May 24 | Track & Field
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THURSDAY RESULTS (PDF) | THURSDAY RESULTS (HTML) | HEAD COACH DENNIS MITCHELL COMMENTS (THUR.) | MATT LUDWIG COMMENTS (5/24) | TERRELL MCCLAIN COMMENTS (5/24) | JORDAN LATIMER COMMENTS (5/24) | PHOTO GALLERY (THUR.) | NCAA EAST PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE (REVISED 5-23) (PDF) | HEAD COACH DENNIS MITCHELL COMMENTS (5/23) | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO ($) | EAST PRELIMINARY ROUND MEN'S STARTING LIST | EAST PRELIMINARY ROUND WOMEN'S STARTING LIST | EAST PRELIMINARY ROUND MEN'S DECLARED ATHLETES | EAST PRELIMINARY ROUND WOMEN'S DECLARED ATHLETES | HEAD COACH DENNIS MITCHELL COMMENTS ON NCAA QUALIFIERS
TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Akron Track and Field team earned three berths to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the opening day of the NCAA East Preliminary Round hosted by South Florida as senior Terrell McClain (Youngstown, Ohio), redshirt junior Jordan Latimer (Huber Heights, Ohio) and junior Matt Ludwig (Chardon, Ohio) punched their tickets to Eugene, Ore., June 6-9, with qualifying marks.
The meet, which invites the region's top 48 athletes in each event, serves as the opening round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The top 12 finishers in each event will advance to the NCAAs in Eugene, Ore. from June 6-9.
McClain and Latimer earned qualifying marks in the men's long jump, while Ludwig moved forward in the men's pole vault.
Ludwig, the defending outdoor NCAA champion in the men's pole vault passed on the opening heights of 15-11 (4.85m) and 16-4.75 (5.00m), before jumping into the competition at 16-10.75 (5.15m).
Junior Tyler Fraker (Delta, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore Cole Wigal (Belpre, Ohio) each cleared the opening height of 15-11 (4.85m) on their initial attempts at the mark. Fraker eclipsed 16-4.75 (5.00m) on his first run at the mark, while Wigal bettered the height on his second try.
Fraker then established a new career-high mark of 16-10.75 (5.15m) on his second attempt, while Wigal was unsuccessful on his three opportunities at the height.
Ludwig easily bettered the bar at 16-10.75 (5.15m) to move the mark to 17-2.75 (5.25m), while Fraker was unable to extend his career-best height coming up shy on his three runs at the mark.
Ludwig narrowly missed clearing the bar at 17-6.50 (5.35m) on his first attempt, before calmly attacking and eclipsing the mark on his second try. The mark proved to be the qualifying standard with 12 pole vaulters advancing to Eugene.
McClain captured his third berth in the NCAA Championships winning the men's long jump with a mark of 26-1.50 (7.96m). Earning his second appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a jump of 25-1.25 (7.65m), good for 10th place, was Latimer. A year ago, McClain earned first-team All-America honors placing fifth at the NCAA Championships with a 2017 season-best jump of 25-7.25 (7.80m).
The duo took different paths to reach their goals as McClain fouled on his opening attempt before registering marks of 25-5.50 (7.76m) and 26-1.50 (7.96m) on his second and third jumps, respectively.
Latimer posted identical marks of 24-10 (7.57m) on each of his first two attempts. Finding himself on the outside of the automatic top-12 qualifiers entering his final jump, Latimer unleashed his best effort of the day to record a mark of 25-1.25 (7.65m), a distance that proved to be the threshold for a trip to Eugene.
Redshirt junior Mackenzie Andrews (Toowoomba, Australia) garnered a strong start to the women's 1,500 meters running among the top-four competitors throughout the majority of the race. Coming down the straight away the race was tight as the top-seven finishers crossed the line within 1.25 seconds of one another with Andrews finishing seventh in her heat and 26th overall with a time of 4:21.46.
Senior Kwadarrius Smith (Orlando, Fla.) took to the track in the second of six heats in the men's 100 meters and registered a time of 10.51. His effort was good for 35th overall and the fifth-fastest time in his heat.
In the women's 100 meters, senior Daziah Green (Canton, Ohio) garnered a career-best time of 11.50 en route to placing 29th overall and fifth in her heat. Green's time fell one one-hundredths of a second shy of equaling Latrese Taylor's school-record time (11.49).
Junior Abigale Wilson (Carrollton, Ohio) placed 28th in the women's shot put with a mark of 50-4.50 (15.35m). Her effort came on her opening throw of the competition.
In the women's high jump, senior Patricia Ortega (Logrono, Spain) surpassed 5-5 (1.65m) to place 42nd. She cleared the bar at 5-5 (1.65m) on her second attempt but was unsuccessful at bettering the next height of 5-7 (1.70m) in each of her three tries.
Senior Jackie Siefring (Covington, Ohio) opened the women's long jump competition with marks of 19-1.50 (5.83m) and 18-7.75 (5.68m) to sit in 11th place when a weather delay occurred due to lightning. After a more than two and half hour delay, competition resumed at 9:35 p.m. On her third and final attempt, Siefring fouled and bowed out of the competition finishing 34th.
Competition resumes on Friday, May 25, with the men's hammer kicking off field events at 8:45 a.m. and action on the track getting underway at 12 p.m. with the men's 110-meter hurdles.
THURSDAY MEN'S FINALS:
Pole Vault: Matt Ludwig (6th-17-6.50/5.35m), Tyler Fraker (16th-16-10.75/5.15m*), Cole Wigal (27th-16-4.75/5.00m); Long Jump: Terrell McClain (1st-26-1.50/7.96m), Jordan Latimer (10th-25-1.25/7.65m)
THURSDAY WOMEN'S FINALS:
High Jump: Patricia Ortega (42nd-5-5/1.65m); Long Jump: Jackie Siefring (34th-19-1.50/5.83m); Shot Put: Abigale Wilson (28th-50-4.50/15.35m)
THURSDAY MEN'S PRELIMINARIES:
100 Meters: Kwadarrius Smith (35th-10.51)
THURSDAY WOMEN'S PRELIMINARIES:
1,500 Meters: Mackenzie Andrews (26th-4:21.46); 100 Meters: Daziah Green (29th-11.50*)
* denotes career-best mark
THURSDAY RESULTS (PDF) | THURSDAY RESULTS (HTML) | HEAD COACH DENNIS MITCHELL COMMENTS (THUR.) | MATT LUDWIG COMMENTS (5/24) | TERRELL MCCLAIN COMMENTS (5/24) | JORDAN LATIMER COMMENTS (5/24) | PHOTO GALLERY (THUR.) | NCAA EAST PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE (REVISED 5-23) (PDF) | HEAD COACH DENNIS MITCHELL COMMENTS (5/23) | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO ($) | EAST PRELIMINARY ROUND MEN'S STARTING LIST | EAST PRELIMINARY ROUND WOMEN'S STARTING LIST | EAST PRELIMINARY ROUND MEN'S DECLARED ATHLETES | EAST PRELIMINARY ROUND WOMEN'S DECLARED ATHLETES | HEAD COACH DENNIS MITCHELL COMMENTS ON NCAA QUALIFIERS
TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Akron Track and Field team earned three berths to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the opening day of the NCAA East Preliminary Round hosted by South Florida as senior Terrell McClain (Youngstown, Ohio), redshirt junior Jordan Latimer (Huber Heights, Ohio) and junior Matt Ludwig (Chardon, Ohio) punched their tickets to Eugene, Ore., June 6-9, with qualifying marks.
The meet, which invites the region's top 48 athletes in each event, serves as the opening round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The top 12 finishers in each event will advance to the NCAAs in Eugene, Ore. from June 6-9.
McClain and Latimer earned qualifying marks in the men's long jump, while Ludwig moved forward in the men's pole vault.
Ludwig, the defending outdoor NCAA champion in the men's pole vault passed on the opening heights of 15-11 (4.85m) and 16-4.75 (5.00m), before jumping into the competition at 16-10.75 (5.15m).
Junior Tyler Fraker (Delta, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore Cole Wigal (Belpre, Ohio) each cleared the opening height of 15-11 (4.85m) on their initial attempts at the mark. Fraker eclipsed 16-4.75 (5.00m) on his first run at the mark, while Wigal bettered the height on his second try.
Fraker then established a new career-high mark of 16-10.75 (5.15m) on his second attempt, while Wigal was unsuccessful on his three opportunities at the height.
Ludwig easily bettered the bar at 16-10.75 (5.15m) to move the mark to 17-2.75 (5.25m), while Fraker was unable to extend his career-best height coming up shy on his three runs at the mark.
Ludwig narrowly missed clearing the bar at 17-6.50 (5.35m) on his first attempt, before calmly attacking and eclipsing the mark on his second try. The mark proved to be the qualifying standard with 12 pole vaulters advancing to Eugene.
McClain captured his third berth in the NCAA Championships winning the men's long jump with a mark of 26-1.50 (7.96m). Earning his second appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a jump of 25-1.25 (7.65m), good for 10th place, was Latimer. A year ago, McClain earned first-team All-America honors placing fifth at the NCAA Championships with a 2017 season-best jump of 25-7.25 (7.80m).
The duo took different paths to reach their goals as McClain fouled on his opening attempt before registering marks of 25-5.50 (7.76m) and 26-1.50 (7.96m) on his second and third jumps, respectively.
Latimer posted identical marks of 24-10 (7.57m) on each of his first two attempts. Finding himself on the outside of the automatic top-12 qualifiers entering his final jump, Latimer unleashed his best effort of the day to record a mark of 25-1.25 (7.65m), a distance that proved to be the threshold for a trip to Eugene.
Redshirt junior Mackenzie Andrews (Toowoomba, Australia) garnered a strong start to the women's 1,500 meters running among the top-four competitors throughout the majority of the race. Coming down the straight away the race was tight as the top-seven finishers crossed the line within 1.25 seconds of one another with Andrews finishing seventh in her heat and 26th overall with a time of 4:21.46.
Senior Kwadarrius Smith (Orlando, Fla.) took to the track in the second of six heats in the men's 100 meters and registered a time of 10.51. His effort was good for 35th overall and the fifth-fastest time in his heat.
In the women's 100 meters, senior Daziah Green (Canton, Ohio) garnered a career-best time of 11.50 en route to placing 29th overall and fifth in her heat. Green's time fell one one-hundredths of a second shy of equaling Latrese Taylor's school-record time (11.49).
Junior Abigale Wilson (Carrollton, Ohio) placed 28th in the women's shot put with a mark of 50-4.50 (15.35m). Her effort came on her opening throw of the competition.
In the women's high jump, senior Patricia Ortega (Logrono, Spain) surpassed 5-5 (1.65m) to place 42nd. She cleared the bar at 5-5 (1.65m) on her second attempt but was unsuccessful at bettering the next height of 5-7 (1.70m) in each of her three tries.
Senior Jackie Siefring (Covington, Ohio) opened the women's long jump competition with marks of 19-1.50 (5.83m) and 18-7.75 (5.68m) to sit in 11th place when a weather delay occurred due to lightning. After a more than two and half hour delay, competition resumed at 9:35 p.m. On her third and final attempt, Siefring fouled and bowed out of the competition finishing 34th.
Competition resumes on Friday, May 25, with the men's hammer kicking off field events at 8:45 a.m. and action on the track getting underway at 12 p.m. with the men's 110-meter hurdles.
THURSDAY MEN'S FINALS:
Pole Vault: Matt Ludwig (6th-17-6.50/5.35m), Tyler Fraker (16th-16-10.75/5.15m*), Cole Wigal (27th-16-4.75/5.00m); Long Jump: Terrell McClain (1st-26-1.50/7.96m), Jordan Latimer (10th-25-1.25/7.65m)
THURSDAY WOMEN'S FINALS:
High Jump: Patricia Ortega (42nd-5-5/1.65m); Long Jump: Jackie Siefring (34th-19-1.50/5.83m); Shot Put: Abigale Wilson (28th-50-4.50/15.35m)
THURSDAY MEN'S PRELIMINARIES:
100 Meters: Kwadarrius Smith (35th-10.51)
THURSDAY WOMEN'S PRELIMINARIES:
1,500 Meters: Mackenzie Andrews (26th-4:21.46); 100 Meters: Daziah Green (29th-11.50*)
* denotes career-best mark
Players Mentioned
Mid-Distance
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Multis
/ Track & Field
Multis
/ Track & Field
WR
/ Football
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Throws
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