Tulsa
NCAA West Regional
Tulsa Begins Competition at NCAA West Prelims Thursday
5/22/2018 11:02:00 AM | Track and Field
TULSA, Okla. – Grey Howard, Ben Preisner, Robert Tully, Henry Visser, Aaliyah Birmingham, Ashley Barnes, and Kiarra Reed will represent the Golden Hurricane in the NCAA Track & Field West Regionals. Tulsa will compete at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State University, with the meet running Thursday-Saturday, May 24-26.
Preisner will be competing for the third straight year at the West regional, but this season will run in the 10,000 meters, after racing in the 3,000m steeplechase the previous two seasons. Preisner's qualifying time this year was 29:08.17. Tully will be making his second regional appearance, having raced the 800-meters in 2016, as he will compete again in the 800m. Howard will be competing for the first time in his career and joins Tully in the 800m field, as Howard qualified with a time of 1:49.02 and Tully had a qualifying time of 1:49.98.
Preisner won the 5,000-meter run at the American Athletic Conference Championship earlier this month with a time of 14:45.05. Howard and Tully placed second and sixth, respectively, at the conference meet.
The freshman Visser will be running the 400m hurdles as he qualified with a time of 51.77. Visser placed sixth at The American Championship with a time of 52.06.
On the women's side, the sophomore Birmingham will be making her second consecutive appearance at the regional, participating in the 400m. Last year, Birmingham raced in the 100m and as a member of the 4x400-meter relay team. At the American Athletic Conference Championship earlier this month, Birmingham claimed the 400m title with a personal-best time of 53.96.
Ashley Barnes, who won The American title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Kiarra Reed, who placed third in the 400m hurdles at the conference meet, will both compete in their respective events at the NCAA Regional. Barnes had a qualifying time of 10:27.10, while Reed's qualifying time was 59.30.
Athletes who rank among the top 48 in their respective event earned berths into the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds. The best 24 relay times also advanced to NCAA prelims. Athletes with the top 12 times/marks and the best 12 relay teams at both the East and West Preliminary Rounds sites will advance to the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, June 6-9.
For all Tulsa track & field news and information, visit TulsaHurricane.com. Follow the team on Twitter and Facebook.
Tulsa's NCAA West Preliminary Round Qualifiers
MEN
400m hurdles (May 24, 4:30 pm PT) – Henry Visser
800m (May 24, 8:10 pm PT) – Grey Howard and Robert Tully
10,000m (May 24, 9:00 pm PT) – Ben Preisner
WOMEN
400m hurdles (May 24, 5:00 pm PT) – Kiarra Reed
400m (May 24, 7:45 pm PT) – Aaliyah Birmingham
3,000m Steeplechase (May 25, 9:00 pm PT) – Ashley Barnes
Players Mentioned
