EUGENE, Oregon -- Several Mid-American Conference track & field athletes will be headed to Eugene, Oregon for the 2021 NCAA Track and Field Championships begining Wednesday, June 9th. All events can be streamed live on
ESPN3 with a complete schedule of events and results for the championship on the
NCAA website.
BOWLING GREEN
Bowling Green State University's Kaila Butler will compete at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, which will take place at Hayward Field, hosted by the University of Oregon.
Butler, making her second trip to the national meet, will compete as one of 24 individuals vying for the national championship in the hammer throw, beginning at 4:00 pm ET Thursday (June 10).
Butler qualified for the NCAA Championships by virtue of a fifth-place finish in the NCAA East Region Preliminaries in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 27.
She fouled on her first attempt of the day, but then recorded a career-best distance of 215-7, topping her previous personal best by more than two feet.
Butler, competing in the third and final flight, soared into third place with that effort, all but clinching a top-12 spot and a trip to Eugene. Two other competitors in flight three topped Butler's distance, but she still finished fifth, exceeding her number-10 seed by five spots.
BUFFALO
University at Buffalo high jumper Brandon Burke will return to competition on Friday as he competes in the high jump competition at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will take place at legendary Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene.
Burke's event will take place on Friday at 4:30 pm local time and 7:30 pm ET. The high jump will be shown in its entirety on ESPN3 and whip-around coverage will air on ESPN2.
Burke enters the championship meet after setting a facility record two weeks earlier in the NCAA East Preliminary with a jump of 2.19m, one of three competitors in the contest to hit all their jumps without a miss. Burke is also looking to claim his second All-American honor of the year after he finished in seventh place at the NCAA Indoor meet earlier this season.
EASTERN MICHIGAN
Two members of the Eastern Michigan University track & field program will represent the Eagles in three total events: graduate student Taige Bryant (Edmond, Okla.-Edmond Memorial) and senior Quintella Johnson (Las Vegas, Nev.-Saint Mary's (Texas Southern)).
Bryant is the first thrower in school history to qualify for the NCAAs at the Division 1 level and will first compete in the men's hammer throw on Wednesday, June 9, at 5:30 p.m. ET, inside the University of Oregon's newly-refurbished Hayward Field. Heading into the national meet, the Oklahoma product is the No. 24 seed with a mark of 64.97m. Previously, the graduate student achieved a career-high heave of 66.01m at the Raleigh Relays, March 27.
After a day off, Bryant will return to take on the best in the discus throw on Friday, June 11, at 7:35 p.m. ET. His performance at the NCAA East Preliminary Championships earned him the 18th seed in the event, as he notched a toss of 56.79m in Jacksonville, Fla., May 28. The Edmond, Okla. native recorded a 58.27m throw at the Knights Invite, April 24, to set a new personal-best and school record.
The top hammer throw mark in the country belongs to Thomas Mardal from the University of Florida who managed a launch of 76.18m. Meanwhile, Arizona State's Turner Washington has the season's top discus throw at 66.26m.
Johnson also looks to make history as she hopes to become the first member of the women's team to be named an All-American in the high jump. The Nevada product PR'd at the NCAA East Preliminary Championships, clearing 1.82m to tie for first and give her the 18th seed in the event. Tyra Gittens of the Texas A&M Aggies owns the highest high jump mark at 1.95m.
KENT STATE
Kent State student-athletes Gabby Bailey and Leah Pasqualetti will seek to earn All-America honors this week at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Gabby Bailey will be competing in her second NCAA Outdoor Championships and placed 18th with a throw of 51'-11.25" in the shot put back in 2019. The Portmore, Jamaica native enters the meet as the field's No. 20 seed with a season-best mark of 55'-1" at the Mid-American Conference Championships. Bailey will also throw the discus at the meet and her personal-best heave of 191'-6" at the Akron Field Events Qualifier earned her the No. 8 seed
Leah Pasqualetti is seeded 14th in the pole vault with a Kent State record height of 14'-0" at the Akron Field Events Last Chance Qualifier. The freshman has a personal-best clearance of 14'-8.25" last June, which would put her in contention for a spot on the podium.
MIAMI
Olivia Bechtel clinched a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400m when she posted a time of 51.93 to take eleventh in the competition. Bechtel also competed in the 200 meter quarterfinal on Saturday night, taking 23rd after finishing in 23.59 seconds.
Finley Mclear clinched a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 800m when he posted a time of 1:46.87 to take first overall in the competition. He is the first Miami competitor to advance to nationals this weekend, which will take place in Eugene, Oregon, on June 9-12.
This will be both Bechtel and Mclear's first nationals appearence.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Junior Ashley Tutt (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) of the Northern Illinois University women's track and field team finished 11th in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA West Preliminary on Thursday night (May 27) to advance to the NCAA Championships. With her top-12 finish, Tutt becomes the fifth Huskie student-athlete in program history to advance to the NCAA finals.
The women's 10,000 meters at the 2021 NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships is scheduled for 9:08 p.m. EST on Thursday, June 10 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
TOLEDO
Seniors Stephanie Sherman and Petronela Simiuc are ready to take the national stage when they head to Eugene, Ore. this week to compete at the NCAA Track & Field Championships.
Sherman will compete in the 10,000m finals on Thursday at 6:08 p.m. PT (9:08 p.m. ET), while Simiuc will run in the qualifying round of the 1500m, also on Thursday at 3:46 p.m. (6:46 ET). The finals for the 1500m will be run on Saturday.
Sherman and Simiuc advanced to the NCAAs by qualifying at the NCAA East Regional Championships in Jacksonville, Fla. (May 27-29). Sherman finished 11th in the 10K with a personal-best time of 34:08.86, while Simiuc overcame a nagging leg injury to take ninth in the 1500m with a time of 4:14.91.
