A week after getting 12 regional qualifiers, the Arizona track and field team added 14 more regional qualifiers Saturday at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe.
“”As a total team it went very well,”” said UA head coach Fred Harvey. “”We accomplished most of the goals that we wanted coming into the meet.””
In the 4×100-meter relay, the Wildcats qualified for regionals with a fourth-place finish by, Christopher McSwain, Kyle Alston, Xuehan Xiong and Chris Titsworth. Their time of 40.56 seconds was enough for a West Regional Championship berth. Arizona is the NCAA West Regional defending champion in the 4x100m relay and hopes to improve upon the qualifying time as the outdoor season progresses.
“”Getting the qualifying performance out the way was our number one goal in the 4×100,”” Harvey said. “”I still feel we didn’t run our best race and there’s some technical things that we still need to clean up a bit within that relay team, but the most important thing was they were able to get that qualifying performance out of the way, so we know for sure that the team is going to the NCAA Regional Championships.””
Titsworth also qualified for regionals in the 400m hurdles by posting a time of 52.51 seconds – which met the qualifying time exactly – and finishing in seventh place.
Also qualifying this weekend was senior Jordan Powell who leapt 7.54m in the long jump, a mark that gave him his first regional qualification for the season.
“”He’s definitely back on task as far as his competitiveness and being able to get the job done,”” Harvey said. “”I’m pretty excited about what his possibilities are there.””
The Arizona throwing team had two regional qualifiers in seniors Nicole Lloyd and Megan Howard, both of whom qualified in the shot put with finishes of fourth (15.65m) and fifth (15.39m), respectively. Howard, a redshirt senior, also qualified in the hammer throw event with a mark of 55.37m.
Redshirt sophomore Jaci Perryman set a personal record with a 4.00m and it also qualified her for a regional spot.
The Wildcats team will attempt to continue to add to their regional qualifications in the Mt. SAC meet in Walnut, Calif. this week.
