The Dozen

Here we are on day two of the East Regional in Lexington, Kentucky. If you don't know how it goes, we started with 48 regional qualifiers in each event. On day one most of the events were paired down to 24 competitors. The field events such as the hammer throw, javelin, pole vault, long jump and shot put all went down to the top 12 that have advanced to the NCAA Championships. The only running event that did the same on Thursday, May 23 was the 10,000 meters.

Today, winners in the remaining 14 events will have athletes fight for the top 12 spots to get to the NCAA Championships meet. In the past we've had fun making predictions on who will advance in a few of the events on day two. Let's keep the tradition alive. You guys can admire our brilliance if we're right or laugh at our ignorance we're wrong.

400-Meter Hurdles

The Scoop: Our previous release featured one of the underdogs in this race. Monmouth's Yasmeen Tinsley entered day one with the 25th best time and closed the day ranked 11th. The absolute favorite in the race is Michigan's Savannah Sutherland who is the defending NCAA champ. Also look out for last year's NCAA bronze medalist Chastity Pickett of Campbell who like Tinsley is from a lesser known track and field program, but is bringing it to prominence with big time performances.

Prediction: Our 12 400-meter hurdles participants that we think will make it to the NCAA Championships are Michigan's Savannah Sutherland, Campbell's Chastity Pickett, Georgia's Dominque Mustin, Florida State's Tyra Wilson, Duke's Skyla Wilson, LSU's Shani'a Bellamy, Tennessee's Kyla Robinson Hubbard, LSU's Leah Phillips, Ole Miss' Gabrielle Matthews, LSU's Garriel White, Ohio State's Chanler Robinson, Monmouth's Yasmeen Tinsley.

100-Meter Hurdles

The Scoop: Nobody is safe when it comes to the hurdles. Even the best get bested from time to time. At the NCAA Indoor Championships we saw UCF's Rayniah Jones take a tumble during the prelim round of the 60-meter hurdles that prevented her from making the final. On day one of the east regional Jones, an NCAA silver medalist in 2021, recorded the best opening day time in the 100-meter hurdles of 12.72. One of the event's favorites Alia Armstrong of LSU, who won the gold in 2022, stumbled over a hurdle which opened the door for a lot of hurdlers to claim her usual spot at the NCAA Championships. Michigan's Aasia Laurencin has been on a tear this year and we expect her to record one of today's top two times.

Prediction: Our 12 100-meter hurdles participants that we think will make it to the NCAA Championships are UCF's Rayniah Jones, Kentucky's Alexis Glasco, Clemson's Oneka Wilson, Michigan's Aasia Laurencin, LSU's Leah Phillips, LSU's Shani'a Bellamy, Florida's Grace Stark, Florida State's Alexandra Webster, Mississippi State's Rosealee Cooper, North Carolina A&T's Lucheyona Weaver, Ohio State's Marcia Sey, Louisiana Tech's Tonie-Ann Forbes.

High Jump

The Scoop: Two of the best NCAA high jumpers of the decade will be showcasing their skills as defending NCAA champ Charity Hufnagel of Kentucky and reigning SEC champ Elena Kulichenko will work to advance back to the NCAA Championships. Hufnagel won the gold as Charity Griffith while competing for Ball State. You guys get that? Hufnagle changed her last name after becoming a wife and transferred from the Mid-American Conference's Ball State to the SEC's Kentucky. Kulichenko finished third at last year's NCAA Championships. This year she is eyeing Hufnagle's gold medal at the big meet but first they both have to advance out o the regional. Also, there is a lot of parity so we anticipate a jump-off to decide the final spot.

Prediction: Our 12 high jumpers that we think will make it to the NCAA Championships are Georgia's Elena Kulichenko, Ohio State's Amaya Ugarte, Kentucky's Charity Hufnagel, Western Kentucky's Katie Isenbarger, Florida's Claire Bryant, LSU's Morgan Smalls, Lipscomb's Bella Jackson, Cincinnati's Spirit Morgan, Villanova's Roschell Clayton, Duke's Brianna Smith, McNeese State's Sakari Famous, Florida A&M's Breeanna Brown-Marshall.