Razorbacks Advance Three to NCAAs on Day Two of West Prelims
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Arkansas advanced three more athletes to the NCAA Championships Friday night at the West Prelims at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State University.
Travean Caldwell had a breakthrough performance in the 400-meter hurdles, turning in a lifetime-best of 50.14 that is tied for the third-fastest performance in program history trailing only Sam Glover (49.08) and Kemar Mowatt program-leading mark of 48.49 from the 2017 World Championships.
Caldwell won his heat earning an auto-Q spot to the NCAA meet in Austin, Texas in two weeks. Nick Hilson was advanced on referee’s decision after a protest was upheld. That means 13 men will move on from the West Region to the Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas in the event.
Joining Caldwell and Hilson at the NCAA Championships will be Kris Hari and Roy Ejiakuekwu who grabbed spots at the national meet in the 100-meters. Both advanced to the final site by way of an auto-Q finish. Ejiakuekwu posted a personal-best at 10.27 seconds while Hari grabbed his spot in the following heat besting Ejiakuekwu by one one-hundredth of a second (.01) tying his personal best, and Danish National Record, of 10.26 seconds.
Carl Elliot III was the lone Razorback to advance to the quarterfinal in the 110-meter hurdles, doing so with an auto-Q finish running 13.97. Tre’Bien Gilbert finished 27th in 14.10 while Shakiel Chattoo took 41st in 14.75.
True Freshman Rashad Boyd took the next step in qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 200-meters as he advanced to the quarterfinal running a lifetime-best of 20.80.
Hunter Woodhall ran in the quarterfinals of the 400-meters falling just short of moving on to Austin in the event. Woodhall took 17th with a time of 46.59 in the one-lap sprint.
Arkansas has qualified six total athletes through to the final site thus far and will look to add to that total tomorrow as the Razorbacks have an entry in every event on the track tomorrow as well as two in the field.
For more information on Arkansas track and field, including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.
