DALLAS – Twenty-three Conference USA student-athletes punched a ticket to the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships following the East and West Preliminary meets this past weekend. The national championships take place June 7-10 in Austin, Texas at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
 
On the men’s side, C-USA will be represented by 12 student-athletes in 10 events. Middle Tennessee’s Alaba Akintola advances to both the 100m and 200m out of the East preliminaries for the second consecutive year. He opened with a fifth-place finish in the first round with a time of 10.07 (+2.3) and followed with a 10.08 (+2.7) to advance. In the 200m, Akintola clocked a 20.03 (+4.3) for the fourth-best time of the meet. 
 
Louisiana Tech’s Rodney Heath Jr. and North Texas’ Karlington Anunagaba also advance in the 100m. Heath Jr. clocked a time of 9.99 for a 10th place finish to advance out of the East preliminaries, while Anunagaba had a 10th place finish in the West preliminaries to advance with a time of 10.17. 
 
UTSA’s Bashiru Abdullahi will compete in the 110m hurdles after an eighth-place finish with a season-best time of 13.61 in the west. Charlotte’s Nick Scudder earned a spot in the 10000m after posting a 29:00.07 for a third-place finish in the semifinals. Victor Kibiego of UTEP advances in the 3000m steeplechase with a personal-best time of 8:26.80 and fourth-place finish in the quarterfinals. 
 
Six will represent C-USA in the men’s field events with Jakub Belik of UTEP earning a spot in the high jump after tying for fourth with a jump of 2.14m. FIU’s Queshun Watson-Riggins will compete in the long jump after a leap of 7.53m in the East prelims.  
 
In the pole vault, C-USA Champion Alexander Slinkman of Rice will compete in Austin following a second-place clearance of 5.40m in the West prelims. North Texas’ Zion Hill earned a spot in the javelin after a season-best throw of 70.48m. 
 
UTSA will see both Jack Turner and Joel McFarlane compete in the decathlon. Turner advanced with 8011 and a sixth-place finish, while McFarlane had 7661 points and finished 22nd. 
 
For the women, 11 will represent C-USA in Austin. On the track, UTEP’s Marissa Simpson will compete in the 100m hurdles after posting a sixth-place finish with a personal-best time of 12.94 (+0.8). 
 
Three student-athletes earned a spot in the javelin with Arianne Morais of UTEP securing the No. 1 spot with a personal-best throw of 57.61m. Morais teammate, Roosa Yloenen also earned a spot with a throw of 53.40m in the West prelims. Rice’s McKyla Van Der Westhuizen advances with a seventh-place finish and a 55.18m mark. 
 
FIU’s Filippa Miller punched her ticket to Austin in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.22m, while Charlotte’s Riley Felts also advances tying for a third-place finish with Miller. 
 
North Texas’ KeAyla Dove, the C-USA champion in shot put earned a spot in the national championships as she threw an 18.15m on her third attempt for a fourth-place finish. Rice’s Erna Gunnarsdottir also advances with a mark of 17.13m and a 12th place finish. 
 
In the hammer throw, Tara Simpson-Sullivan threw a 66.66m in the West prelims to advance by finishing fourth. FIU’s Michaelle Valentin will compete in the discus after throwing a personal-best mark of 55.33, finishing in third place.
 
UTSA’s Oreoluwa Adamson rounds out the competitors as she advances in the long jump with a leap of 6.29m and a seventh-place finish.