FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Cameron Bates and Danny Bryant qualified for the NCAA National Championships while hurdler Riley Hunt broke a 45-year-old school record in the 110-meter hurdles at the NCAA West Preliminary Round at John McDonnell Field on Wednesday.
The top 12 placing athletes/relays in each event at both the West and East Preliminary Rounds compose the field of 24 that will compete at the NCAA Championships June 5-8 in Eugene, Oregon.
Bates took sixth overall in the javelin field with his final toss of 72.20-meters/236-10. After falling down to 16th, Bates came back with his final throw to land in sixth place which put him in the elite flight in Eugene. The senior school record-holder will compete at his third national championship meet.
Bryant placed fourth in the shot put with his first throw of 19.40m/63-7.75. It was Bryant's third outing in the preliminary round and first time advancing to the national championship.
Hunt ran 13.70 in the first round of the 110-meter hurdles, taking down the school record held by Rafael Echavarria who ran 13.79 in 1979. Hunt placed third in his heat to move onto the quarter-final round held on Friday. The transfer from Cal broke his career best time by 0.21 seconds.
Mid-distance runners Lucas Bons and Sebastian Fernandez each advanced to the quarterfinals finishing by top placement in respective events. Bons placed fifth in his seat of the 1500m with a time of 3:41.17. Fernandez took third in the final heat of the 800m with a time of 1:48.00.
Quotes
Ed Eyestone, Director of Track and Field
"There were great performances across the board today. Having two of our throwers punch their tickets to Eugene was awesome. All of the javelin guys did great. It was great to see Danny taking care of business on his first throw. For Cameron to move from 16th to sixth was great. It was also good to have Bons and Fernandez both advance. Rafael was actually my teammate when I competed on the team at BYU, so that record has been up there a long time. I'm really proud of Riley and the coaching Coach Kyle Grossarth has done. We are looking forward to a big Friday."
Cameron Bates, Javelin
"It started slow. It seems to be that way for regionals a lot for me but I ended with my best throw that I've ever had at a preliminary meet and it was good enough for sixth. That was the main goal to get into the last flight at nationals. It was good meat overall. It was obviously not the distance I wanted but hopefully I'm saving it for nationals."
Danny Bryant, Shot Put
"It felt good. It was my first throw. All I needed was one to get me in that spot. I have a great support system in all my thrower buddies. It's so fun to be with them. They all yell and scream and I get super hyped with them around. Hopefully at nationals I improve a little bit and just have some fun."
"That was one of the greatest surprises of my life and I’m really happy that all the training that I’ve done could show this late in the season. It was amazing to hear all my teammates and coaches explode with cheers with me when the time popped up. I’m super excited to be moving on to the next round. This was my first outing at the preliminary meet, so moving on is really awesome. I came into the meet ranked 48th which is last so mine and Coach Kyle’s motto for me this weekend was, ‘What’s the best part about being 48th? There’s only one way to go and that’s up.’ To go from barely even making the meet, to moving to the second round is a true blessing."
Kyle Grossarth, Sprints and Hurdles Coach
"It was a great run for Riley today. To get a personal best by 0.21 on this stage is just a testament to his mental and physical preparation. I’m excited for him to be able to continue his season."
Niklas Arrhenius, Throws Coach
"Today was a great day for my guys. We had one personal best for Chase Clement and really good throws for both Brinton Paulson and Michael Whittaker. I’m very proud of Cameron for making an elite javelin competition qualifying mark. Danny had his second best meet of his career to qualify and make it into the last flight of nationals. Simply brilliant overall.
On Deck
The BYU women's track and field team will begin competition Thursday afternoon with the start of the women's javelin at 11:30 a.m. MT. The men will resume competition Friday with the men's discus slated for 12 p.m. Find all event information on the Meet Central page.