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Four members of the Marquette track & field team are headed to California to compete in the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds, which you could call regionals if you wanted to. The Golden Eagles are sending three men and one woman with qualifying marks with an eye on finishing in the top 12 in their events and advancing to the NCAA Championships on June 5-8. It’s the seventh straight year that MU has sent at least three participants to the Prelims.
All four athletes are in field events. Based on seeding heading into the Prelims, Samuel Johnson has the best shot of advancing. He has the 22nd best triple jump mark in the West side of the country this season at 15.50 meters. That’s the second best triple jump in Marquette history, and he recorded it at the Big East Championships a little over a week ago.
Daniel Armstrong is Marquette’s most experienced competitor at Prelims, as he makes his third trip to the outdoor event here. He has a best mark of 2.12 meters to rank #23 in the West Region this season after finishing second at the Big East Championships at 2.11 meters. A year ago, Armstrong finished tied for 10th at the Outdoor Prelims, but didn’t get into a jump-off to settle who advanced because he had a miss on his record already at that point.
The third and final male entrant at West Prelims is Terrance Howard. He heads to Sacramento with a Big East championship in the discus throw. Howard won that title at 50.04 meters, but back in April, he had a toss of 54.91 meters to rank #39 in the West Region and qualify for prelims.
Lindsey Mirkes is the lone Marquette woman to participate at NCAA Prelims this year. She finished second at the Big East Championships at 1.70 meters in the high jump, but that’s not her best height of the season. Mirkes cleared 1.76 meters, her career best and the second best height in Marquette history, on May 3rd in Madison, WI. That has her coming into prelims with the #26 mark in the region.
The entire meet will be streamed by FloTrack, but that’s going to cost you a dollar or two if you want to watch. Go ahead and pop for it if you want, but keep in mind that you’re taking a chance as to whether or not the broadcast will actually show you the field events.
2019 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary Rounds
Date: May 23-25
Location: Hornet Stadium, Sacramento, CA
Streaming: FloTrack
Live Results: NCAA.com
Schedule For Marquette
Thursday, May 23, 5:30pm CT — Lindsey Mirkes, women’s high jump
Friday, May 24, 6pm CT — Terrance Howard, men’s discus
Saturday, May 25, 6pm CT — Daniel Armstrong, men’s high jump
Saturday, May 25, 8:30pm CT — Samuel Johnson, men’s triple jump