LAWRENCE, Kan. (5/27/16) – Despite inclement weather at Rock Chalk Park Friday, three Arkansas State student-athletes punched their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships after advancing in their respective events at the NCAA West Region Preliminaries on Friday.

Kristina Knott punched her ticket to Eugene in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.52 seconds. Knott nearly won the fourth heat, but was edged out at the line and had to await the results from each heat. She heads to Eugene ranked 11th out of the 12 qualifiers from the NCAA West Region.

Jaylen Bacon clinched his spot in Eugene by finishing seventh in the 100-meter dash. Bacon dashed to a time of 10.27 seconds to finish second in his heat and seventh overall among the 12 qualifiers to advance to the championships.

For the third-straight season, Roelf Pienaar will compete for the long jump title. Pienaar finished second with a leap of 7.80m (25-07.25) and easily advances Eugene.

Elsewhere on the track, Keturah Smith and Wil Norris competed looking to advance to Eugene, but each came up short. Smith posted a time of 54.42 seconds in the 400-meter dash to place 18th while Norris had a time of 9:16.08 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to place 36th.

Calea Carr posted the top throw in the first flight of discus throw with a launch of 52.19m (171-2) and ranks third after two flights putting her in good position to possibly advance to Eugene as well. The third flight will be completed Saturday after more weather delayed the event further Friday night.

The men's discus throw with Itamar Levi in the field was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Friday, but was pushed to Saturday at 9 a.m. because of inclement weather in the afternoon. Cristian Ravar Ladislau competed in the hammer throw on Thursday ahead of weather that pushed back the competition to Friday. Ravar Ladislau was unable to register a throw as he fouled on each of his three attempts.

Ivery Guyton was unable to get a clearance in the high jump competition on Friday and saw her season come to a close at the NCAA West Region Preliminary. Tiaan Steenkamp cleared 2.12m (6-11.50) in the high jump to finish 24th. Sam Bell also had his season come to a close as he finished tied for 32nd with a clearance of 4.98m (16-04.00) in the pole vault. Both the high jump and pole vault were moved indoors due to the weather.

The final day of competition at the NCAA West Region Preliminaries is scheduled to get underway at 9 a.m. (CT). A-State will have six athletes competing in seven events on Saturday. The tentative schedule for those athletes is as follows:

9:00 AM – Roelf Pienaar | Triple Jump

9:00 AM – Itamar Levi | Discus Throw

11:30 AM – Shemiah Brooks | 100m Hurdles

12:00 PM – Jamil Peeples | 110m Hurdles

12:30 PM – Erin Farmer | Shot Put

12:30 PM – Shemiah Brooks | Triple Jump

12:30 PM–Kristina Knott | 200-Meter Dash

12:55 PM–Jaylen Bacon | 200-Meter Dash

3:00 PM– Itamar Levi | Shot Put