FULLERTON, Calif. – California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, California will host the NCAA Division I West Preliminary that begins on Thursday. Cal State Fullerton has three individuals competing on the women's side and has nine total entries on the men's side. The qualifiers out of these two regions will compete in the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 6-9 in Eugene, Oregon.

The top 48 individuals and 24 relay teams qualified for the preliminaries and only the top 12 individuals and relay teams advance to Eugene.

On the men's side, Rasaun House and Thaddeus Smith III are both set to compete in the 100-meter dash. House and Smith both clocked times of 10.44 this season with Smith winning the Big West Championship in the event. House is ranked 41st and Smith is 44th heading into the preliminaries. The first round of the 100-meter dash is set for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. PT.

Smith is also entered in the 200-meter sprint with the 30th-ranked time of 21.00. He earned a third-place finish in the event at the Big West Championships. The first round of the 200-meter sprint is set for Friday at 7:30 p.m. 

Danny Ramirez will run in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:57.10, the No. 44 mark in the region. After earning a runner-up finish in the Big West Championships, Ramirez will run the quarterfinal round of the steeplechase on Friday at 8:20 p.m. PT.

Mason Guzman-Sanchez, the reigning Big West Champion and school-record holder in the 110-meter hurdles, is set to run that event in Sacramento with his No. 42 ranked mark of 14.20. The first round of the hurdles is set for Friday at 4:30 p.m. PT. 

Last but not least for the track events, the men's 4x100-meter relay team will compete and has the No. 23 mark with a time of 40.20. The quartet of House, Smith, Luis Matos and Marcel Espinoza posted that time at the Big West Championships to earn a first-place finish. The quarterfinal round will take place on Saturday at 6 p.m. 

Edwin Matthews, a Big West All-Conference honoree, claimed the 48th and final spot in the men's high jump field with his clearance of 6-10.25 (2.09m). He will high jump on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT.

Anthony Applequist, also a Big West All-Conference honoree, holds the No. 23 ranked mark in the triple jump at 51-3.5 (15.63m). His competition is set for 7:30 p.m. PT on Saturday.

Corey Gilbert has the No. 22 ranked toss in the discus with a school-record toss of 184-0 (56.09m) to earn his spot in the competition. Gilbert was also a Big West All-Conference team member. The discus competition takes place on Friday at 12 p.m.

For the CSF women, Samantha Huerta will compete in the 800-meter race on Thursday at 8:35 p.m. in the first round. The reigning Big West Champion in the event has clocked a season-best time of 2:07.36 (CSF record) which is ranked 29th heading into the competition.

Iesha Hamm is set to compete in the high jump as she cleared 5-10 (1.78m) this season, a school-record mark that ranks her 23rd. The competition is set for Thursday at 4 p.m. PT.

Along with the other two Titans, Nicole Clark is also a school-record holder with her toss of 156-8 (47.77m) in the javelin. She enters the preliminaries with the 27th-best toss in the region and will compete on Thursday at 12 p.m. PT.

NCAA track and field fans can watch a live stream of the NCAA Division I East and/or West Preliminary Championships as FloTrack Pro subscribers.

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