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LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Illinois State men's and women's track and field standouts set to compete against some of the best student-athletes in the country at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field West Preliminary Round on May 26-28.
The University of Kansas will serve as host of the three-day competition, which takes place at the Rock Chalk Park. The Redbirds have a large group of student-athletes that will be competing this weekend. For the women, Emily Clay, Morgan Keller and Amanda McClain will represent ISU in the field, while the senior trio of Kelly McShea, Jackie Mink and Sarah Mussallem will compete on the track. Mussallem and McClain will be joined by their teammates Ally Christiani, Ashleigh Wilson and Rayanne Wright to compete in the 4x400-meter relay as well.
On the men's side, the 4x100-meter relay team—Dion Hooker, Jalen Lewis, Anderson Devonish and Shandall Thomas—will look to make an impact, along with the 4x400-meter relay team of Ben Montgomery, CJ Hamilton, Lewis, Devonish and Antonio Farley. Devonish, Montgomery and Thomas will also be competing in individual events, along with J.D. LaFayette and Ryan Rutherford.
The Missouri Valley Conference has one of the largest entry fields in the country. For the men, the MVC has 64 entries into the NCAA Championships, which is the ninth largest field by conferences. On the women's side, the MVC has 58 entries and is also ranked ninth largest field as well.
"We have our largest contingent travelling to the West Preliminary Round in quite some time with several in a good position to advance to Eugene for the finals if they execute as they did to qualify to Lawrence," Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Jeff Bovee said. "Our three relay teams will be more rested than they were at the Valley Championships and should make a good run for a top-12 spot as well. Andy was an NCAA qualifier last year and I think his experience in Eugene will help him lead the others next week."
Competition will kick off with McClain in the women's long jump set to start at 6:45 p.m. CT, on Thursday May 26. McClain captured the Missouri Valley Conference Title in the women's long jump at the 2016 MVC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. She is ranked 21st entering the West Preliminary Round.
Thomas will be the first Redbird to compete on the track. He will compete in the first round of 100-meter dash on Thursday and the first round of the 200-meter dash on Friday. Thomas earned All-MVC First Team Selection in the 100-meter dash at the 2016 MVC Outdoor Championships. The quarterfinal round of the 100 is scheduled for Friday, while the quarterfinal round for the 200 is slated for Saturday. There will be 24 qualifiers from the entry field of 48 that will advance to the quarterfinals.
The first round of the 400-meter dash is scheduled on Thursday at 7:20 p.m. CT for the women, and 7:45 pm. CT for the men. Mussallem will represent the Redbirds as she heads into the competition ranked No.19. Mussallem earned all-MVC First Team Selection in the 400-meter dash at the 2016 MVC Outdoor Championships, where she ran a personal-best time of 53.62. The senior hopes to advance to the quarterfinals that are scheduled on Friday. Again, there will be 24 athletes out of 48 that will advance to the quarterfinals.
On the men's side, Devonish and Montgomery will compete in the first round of the 400-meter dash. The duo earned All-MVC honors as they finished second and third at the MVC Outdoor Championships, respectively. Devonish is not a stranger to the West Preliminaries as this will be his third time competing for the token to Hayward Field (Eugene, Oregon). Just a year ago, Devonish qualified for the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 400-meter dash, and the junior hopes to punch his second ticket this weekend.
This will be Montgomery first rally to the West Preliminary Round. Montgomery heads into competition ranked No.21 in the 400-meter dash. Quarterfinals for the men's 400-meter dash is scheduled on Friday at 6:15 p.m. CT.
Mink and LaFayette will compete in the first round of the 800-meter run on Thursday, May 26. The women will begin at 8:10 p.m. CT, followed by the men at 8:35 p.m. CT. Mink captured All-MVC honors at the 2016 MVC Championships as she placed second in the 800-meter run. Both Mink and LaFayette will look to advance to the quarterfinals on Friday.
Rutherford will close the competition on Thursday for the Redbirds with the men's 10,000-meter run. The school-record holder had stellar performances at the 2016 MVC Outdoor Championships, as he captured his first MVC Title in the 10K and All-MVC accolades in the 5,000-meter run. He looks to continue is positive momentum into the West Preliminary Round.
On Friday, Clay will start the second day of action with the women's pole vault at 5 p.m. CT. The 2016 MVC Indoor and Outdoor Champion posted a new Illinois State school record with a vault if 13-05.75. McShea is also set to compete on Friday in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 8:50 p.m. Her personal-best time of 10:09.56 was captured at prestigious Stanford Invitational on April 2, ranks her No. 15 in the field heading into the meet.
On the final day, Keller will start the action for ISU in the shot put at 3:30 p.m. CT. Keller posted All-MVC honors at the 2016 MVC Championships with a personal-best mark of 51-00.75, which ranks her No.34 heading into competition. This is her second showing at the West Preliminary Round in the shot put. The relay teams will have their chance to advance to Eugene, Oregon on the final day, as the men's 4x100-meter relay will start at 6:15 p.m. CT, followed by the women's and men's 4x400-meter relay teams at 9:25 p.m. CT and 9:45 p.m. CT, respectively.
The student-athletes will the top 12 times/marks and the best 12 relay teams at the East and West prelims will qualify for the 2016 NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, June 8-11.
Fans can follow along with the action on Twitter @Redbird_TrackXC, or live coverage by clicking here.
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