FULLERTON, Calif.—A school-record seven Cal State Fullerton Track and Field athletes have qualified for the NCAA West Regional Championships in Austin, Texas, the NCAA announced Thursday.
Titan standouts Bryan Luther, Javon May, Walter Whitaker, Deena Pierce, Ashley Sims, Morgan Thompson, and Katie Wilson will represent Fullerton next Thursday- Saturday (May 23-25) at Mike A. Myers Stadium, as they'll go up against the best athletes in the West.
"I'm so proud of our athletes," said associate head coach Brandit Copper. "They have worked so hard to take their talents to the next level and represent Cal State Fullerton at the NCAAs."
Luther qualified for the men's 200-meter dash, thanks to his personal best time of 21.34 last weekend at the Big West Championships. The time ends up being ranked 85th in the NCAA West Region and the third fastest in the Big West.
May and Whitaker also join Luther on the men's side, as May will take part in the men's 400-meter hurdles and Whitaker will compete in the men's triple jump. May's personal best 400-meter hurdle time of 52.16m set last week at the Big West Championships, ended up being ranked 37th in the NCAA West and third in the Big West. Whitaker also recorded a personal best leap of 49-11.75 last week at the conference championships and heads into the NCAAs ranked 40th in the west and fourth in the Big West.
On the women's side, Pierce will compete in the women's 400-meter hurdles. She ended the regular season ranked 43rd in the NCAA West Region and fourth in the Big West, after breaking the school record and setting a new personal best last week at the Big West Championships (59.67).
Sims will run in the women's 200-meter dash. She finished the year ranked 53rd in the NCAA West Region and third in the Big West after running a personal best time of 23.78 last weekend at conference championships.
Wilson and Thompson round out the group, as they'll both run in the women's 400-meter dash. Wilson recorded a personal best time of 53.39 last week at the Big West Championships, giving her the 30th fastest time in the NCAA West Region and the second fastest time in the conference.
Thompson qualifies for the NCAA field after she ran a time of 53.90 last weekend during her preliminary race in the conference championships, smashing what was a previous personal-best mark of 56.43. She ranks 48th in the NCAA West Region and fourth in the Big West.