Marquette Does Not Advance To NCAA Track & Field Nationals

The 2018-19 Marquette athletic calendar officially came to an end over the weekend as the four Golden Eagles competing in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary Rounds did not advance to nationals. Only the top 12 participants in each event advanced, and Marquette did not have anyone finish higher than 26th place in their speciality.

Lindsey Mirkes, MU’s lone woman competing in Sacramento, was the top performer of the weekend for the Golden Eagles. She was able to clear a height of 1.70 meters in the high jump to finish in 26th place, which matches the height she cleared to finish second at the Big East championships. 1.75 meters was the height needed to get into the top 12, but even in that case, tiebreakers had to be used to decide things. To get through cleanly, Mirkes would have needed to get to 1.80 meters, which would have tied the all-time MU record.

Marquette also had a competitor in the men’s high jump on Saturday. Daniel Armstrong cleared 2.06 meters to come in 29th out of 46 West entrants. He qualified for the West Prelims with a height of 2.12 meters earlier this season, which would have been good enough to advance, as there was a jump-off at 2.11 meters to break a tie for 10th place.

15.50 meters was the second best men’s triple jump in Marquette history back at the Big East championships, and if Samuel Johnson had recreated that leap that won him a conference title..... well, if we’re being honest, it wouldn’t have mattered. 15.55 meters was the shortest distance to advance, while Johnson only hit 14.70 meters. Johnson came in ranked #23 in the West Prelims, giving him the best ranking amongst the four MU competitors, but he ended up finishing 37th here.

Mirkes, Armstrong, and Johnson will all get another crack at advancing next year, but Terrance Howard’s collegiate throwing career came to an end on Friday after he did not advance in the discus throw. He had his best throw — 50.75 meters — on the first attempt of the competition, but that ended up putting him in 45th place. That throw beat his mark that he won a Big East title with (50.04 meters), but was short of his season best toss of 54.91 meters. Even if Howard had hit a new career best by beating that qualifying distance, it might not have been enough. Washington’s Jonah Wilson had the 12th best throw at the West Prelims at 55.19 meters.