LAWRENCE, Kan. (5/28/16) – Three Arkansas State student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Erin Farmer joined the trio with a fourth place finish in the shot put on Saturday at the NCAA West Region Preliminaries at Rock Chalk Park.
Farmer posted a throw of 17.03m (55-10.50) on her second attempt and clinched her ticket to Eugene with the throw. Farmer owns the A-State and Sun Belt record in the event with a throw of 17.80m (58-08.75) at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships.
Knott, who punched her ticket to Eugene in the 100-meter dash on Friday, narrowly missed out on a second event. Knott improved her school record in the 200-meter dash to 23.23 seconds, but she finished 13th overall, just one-hundredth of a second behind the 12th-place finisher. Jaylen Bacon, also a Eugene qualifier on Friday, ran in the 200-meter dash on Saturday, but finished with a time of 21.10 seconds to place 25th.
Pienaar advanced to Eugene in the long jump on Friday and competed in the triple jump Saturday morning. Pienaar posted a leap of 15.79m (51-09.75), but placed just outside the top-12 who advanced.
Shemiah Brooks competed in two events Saturday, but saw her impressive season come to a close. Brooks finished 44th in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.24 seconds. She also competed in the triple jump, finishing 34th with a leap of 12.37m (40-07.00). Jamil Peeples ran in the 110-meter hurdles and finished 43rd with a time of 14.70 seconds.
Itamar Levi vied to move on to nationals in the shot put and discus throw on Saturday. Levi finished 16th in the shot put with a toss of 18.32m (60-01.25) and posted a 20th-place discus throw of 54.61m (179-2).
The women's discus throw was completed Saturday morning and Calea Carr was in third place before the third and final flight competed. After the third flight, Carr wound up in 15th-place with a throw of 52.19m (171-2).
The A-State men and women will see four entries at the NCAA Outdoor Championships set to be held in Eugene, Oregon June 8-11. Men's events will be held on Wednesday and Friday of that week, while the women's events will take place on Thursday and Saturday. The schedule for the A-State athletes follows:
Wednesday, June 8
5:46 PM – Jaylen Bacon | 100-meter dash
6:00 PM – Roelf Pienaar | Long Jump
Thursday, June 9
5:46 PM – Kristina Knott | 100-meter dash
6:30 PM – Erin Farmer | Shot Put
Friday, June 10
6:22 PM – Jaylen Bacon | 100-meter dash (if advance)
Saturday, June 11
4:22 PM – Kristina Knott | 100-meter dash (if advance)
