Amelliah Birdow led the No. 18 Texas Women’s Track & Field team on May 30 as the Longhorns secured seven NCAA Outdoor Championships qualifiers during the final day of the NCAA West Preliminary Round at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Birdow posted the fastest 400-meter hurdles time of the evening, winning heat three with a meet-leading 54.95 to advance to the NCAA Championships. Anouk Krause-Jentsch also earned a spot at nationals after placing second in her heat with a time of 56.59. Mackenzie Collins finished 13th overall in the event with a time of 57.12, narrowly missing advancement.
In other events, Bayleigh Minor ran a career-best 51.12 in the 400 meters to finish second in her heat and secure qualification for Eugene, while Elise Cooper finished 21st overall with a time of 52.75. Carleta Bernard advanced to nationals in the 100 meters after winning her heat with a season-best wind-aided time of 11.01, which was sixth-fastest among quarterfinalists.
Jeanne Le Goff qualified for her first NCAA Outdoor Championships by placing seventh in triple jump with an opening mark of 13.56 meters (44-6). The Longhorns’ women’s relay teams also advanced: London, Holly Okuku, Wolfe and Ramiah Elliott placed third in their heat for the 4×100-meter relay (43.28), while Birdow, Elliott, Krause-Jentsch and Minor won their heat for the 4×400-meter relay (3:27.03) after weather delays.
Several athletes narrowly missed qualifying individually; Okuku finished just outside advancement by one-hundredth of a second in the women’s 200 meters (22.87), and Sophie Atkinson placed 27th in the women’s 5,000 meters (16:14.77). The full list of Texas qualifiers includes both individual athletes and relays from both men’s and women’s teams.
The NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships are scheduled for June 10-13 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
