FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas — The Utah Valley University men opened the 2024 NCAA West Preliminary Rounds on Wednesday with
Nick Forsyth,
Cameron Franklin, and
Noah Peterson in action at the University of Arkansas.
Forsyth and Peterson both saw their banner seasons capped with the regional appearance, with each advancing for the second year in a row.
Cameron Franklin competed in the first round of the 400-meter finals and will also run in the 4x100 relay on Friday.
Franklin ran his heat in 46.85 seconds to finish 38th overall out of the 48 qualifiers in the 400. Franklin recently broke the school record on consecutive days at the WAC Outdoor Championships, setting the mark of 46.30 seconds to finish second in the conference finals. Forsyth's best throw in the javelin came with his second attempt as he hit 60.87 meters to finish in 36th. Peterson eclipsed 4.92 meters to advance to the next mark but would get no further to finish in a tie for 39th.
The women will begin competition on Thursday and the originally scheduled times have been moved up in anticipation of severe weather in the area on Thursday evening. Field events have been moved up 90 minutes while all running events will move up three hours.
Kelsi Oldroyd looks to punch her ticket to Eugene as she'll throw in third of three flights in the javelin that begins at 12:30 p.m. CT. Oldroyd enters with the No. 10 mark in the West and 12th-best in the country after winning her second straight WAC title.
Quincy Bonds runs in heat five (out of six) of the 100-meter hurdles first round with 24 of the 48 set to advance to Saturday's quarterfinals. The top three from each heat and the next six best times advance. The first heat of the 100mH is slated to begin at 3 p.m. CT.
Paige Young will race in heat two of the 400-meter hurdles, which begins at 5:20 p.m. CT while
Morgan Nokes competes in the 10k, scheduled for a 6:10 p.m. start. Like the 100mH, the top three in each of the six heats plus the next six best times will move onto Saturday's national quarterfinal. The 10,000-meter race is a national semifinal with the top 12 times advancing to Eugene.
