COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Five Wolverines competed at the NCAA West Regional Preliminaries at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.
Albert MacArthur,
Aaron Johnson,
Caleb Furnell,
Isaac Manning, and
Hannah Branch competed in a total of six events at the West Prelims as Utah Valley concluded its 2021 Outdoor Track and Field season.
"This was a great opportunity for our athletes to compete in the first round of the NCAA's," said Utah Valley head track and field coach
Scott Houle. "They've worked extremely hard to qualify and it's a big deal for them to be invited a meet like this. We had some decent performances, even though they weren't able to advance to the next round. We are excited for what these athletes did this year and the experience they were able to gather at this event and we've got a bright future ahead of us."
MacArthur competed in the triple jump, marking his third-consecutive NCAA-preliminary competition. MacArthur, who broke a 22-year old school-record in the triple jump, took 23
rd with a jump of 15.65m. His jump is good enough for the second-best in UVU history, just short of his own record of 15.75m.
Johnson, the reigning WAC Outstanding Track Performer and High Point Award winner, finished 26
th in the long jump. Johnson's leap of 7.41m is good enough for the fourth-best mark in school history.
Furnell, who holds the second-fastest time in the 200m run in school history, competed in the 200m dash, finishing 35
th. Furnell's final time of 21.21 is good enough fifth in the school record books.
Manning, who set the school record in the pole vault, finished 43
rd, clearing a height of 4.85m. Manning's height was also good enough for the fourth-best in UVU history.
Branch was unable to complete the 10,000m, leading to a DNS in the 5000m. Branch finished in the top-25 in the 10,000m and the top-40 in the 5000m during the regular season. Branch set UVU records in both events this year, finishing the 5000m run in 16:14.10 and the 10,000m run in 33:49.90.
The top-12 competitors and relay teams from each Preliminary site advanced to the 2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 9-12 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Without a top-12 finisher, the Wolverines 2021 season comes to an end.
