Track & Field 2k21: NCAA West Prelim

There was a three-way tie for first in the high jump at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, last weekend as Montana State's Lucy Corbett, Oklahoma's Madison Langley-Walker and Texas A&M's Lamara Distin all cleared 1.82 on their first try. None of the three winners missed on their previous jumps, unlike the other competitors who eventually cleared 1.82. There was a four-way tie for fourth place as Jamari Drake of New Mexico, Saara Hakanen of Oklahoma State, USC's Morgan Smalls and Texas A&M's Tyra Gittens all made it over 1.82 on their second try.

Cierra Tidwell of BYU finished eighth as it took her three jumps to clear 1.82. The ninth place finisher at 1.82 was Prairie View's Ja'Sha Sloan who was the only one who missed at 1.77 before making her third jump at 1.82.

Baylor's Aaliyah Miller, Arkansas' Shafiqua Maloney and Oklahoma State's Kaytlyn Larson finished one, two and three in the 800 meters at the NCAA West Preliminary Round semifinals. Miller won with a time of 2:02.13 and is on a roll in 2021. She won the Big 12 Championship in the 800 at 2:04.42, after winning the NCAA indoor championship at 2:00.69. Miller also won the Big 12 indoor championship at 2:02.98.

800 Meters Semifinals at NCAA West Preliminary Round (Top 12 Finishers)

Aaliyah Miller, Baylor, 2:02.13

Shafiqua Maloney, Arkansas, 2:03.30

Claire Seymour, BYU, 2:04.07

Avi'Tai Wilson-Perteete, 2:04.12

Kaytlyn Larson, Oklahoma State, 2:04.56

Anna Camp, BYU, 2:04.79

Astrid Rosvall, UC Santa Barbara, 2:04.87

Samantha Huerta, Cal State Fullerton, 2:05.00

Kristie Schoffield, Boise State, 2:05.06

Stephanie Moss, Oklahoma State, 2:05.06

Wilma Nielsen, Bradley, 2:05.16

Sivan Auerbach, Oklahoma State, 2:05.49

Texas A&M's foursome of Tierra Robinson-Jones, Charokee Young, Jaevin Reed and Athing Mu won the 1,600-meter relay at 3:25.84. The Aggies were the only team to win their heat by at least five seconds as Baylor placed second in heat three, sixth overall, at a time of 3:30.92. Twenty-three teams competed in the relay event. USC's squad of talented 400-meter sprinters were second overall at 3:26.37. That team featured Bailey Lear, Nicole Yeargin, Kaelin Roberts and Kyra Constantine. Arkansas was third at 3:27.58, behind the feet of Paris Peoples, Morgan Burks Magee, Shafiqua Maloney and Tiana Wilson.

Stanford's Julia Heymach took first in the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters. This was only her second time running the 5,000 meters on the collegiate level. Her first time was a win at the PAC-12 Track & Field Championships, last month. Heymach's 5,000 meters time of 15:55.72 placed her ahead of Colorado's Abby Nichols at 15:58.03 as well as her Stanford teammate Ella Donaghu's third place time of 15:59.22.

In the 1,500, Heymach ran 4:09.89, which was a personal best. It was a drastic improvement from the 22nd place finish that she had in the NCAA West Preliminary Round of 2019, where she recorded a time of 4:22.77. This year she placed in front of runner-up Krissy Gear of Arkansas (4:10.09) and third place runner Sage Hurta of Colorado (4:12.01) in the field of 24 competitors.

Deborah Acquah of Texas A&M won the triple jump with her first attempt of 13.72. She fouled on her second effort and jumped 13.53 to complete the event. Texas Tech's Ruth Usoro and Washington State's Charisma Taylor tied for second at 13.63. Both jumpers hit the mark on their first attempts as well. Acquah was the NCAA runner-up at this year's indoor championship meet in the triple jump, where she jumped 14.27, which was her all-time best.