BOONE, N.C. - Six Mountaineers have advanced to the NCAA East First Round, as announced on the NCAA website on Thursday. Graduate student
Patrick Freeman, redshirt senior
Calbert Guest, junior
Ava Studney, sophomores
Matthew Gray and
Kendall Johnson and freshman
Lilly Nichols have been accepted into the competition.
The NCAA East First Round will be hosted by the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 28-31. The meet will be available to stream on ESPN+.
A trio of Mountaineers will be making their second appearance at the NCAA East First Round, having qualified in previous years. Both Gray and Studney will make their second consecutive appearances in the meet, as the pair previously qualified in the men's and women's pole vault categories in 2024. Guest will make his return to the Jax Track at Hodges Stadium, where he made his previous appearance in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2023.
Freeman and Gray will start the Mountaineers off on Wednesday with the men's pole vault, which is slated to start at 5:30 p.m. The duo had broken the school record at the App State Open (April 18-19) with matching clearances of 5.35m (17' 6.5"). Gray went on to surpass the record on two more occasions, first clearing a bar of 5.38m (17' 7.75") at the Sun Belt Championships to secure silver and Second Team All-Sun Belt honors, before recording a clearance of 5.43m (17' 9.75") in front of a home crowd at the Sunday Night Qualifier on May 18. Gray and Freeman enter the competition ranked 14th and 19th, respectively, in the final NCAA East First Round Qualifying List.
Johnson, Nichols and Studney will each compete on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Nichols and Studney will compete in the women's pole vault and enter the competition ranked 34th and 43rd, respectively, in the qualifying list. Nichols broke the women's pole vault program record twice this spring, first at the Sun Belt Championships (May 8-10) with a clearance of 4.11m (13' 5.75"), and then with a clearance of 4.16m (13' 7.75") at the Sunday Night Qualifier (May 18). Nichols secured silver and Second Team All-SBC honors for her performance at the SBC Championships and now holds the women's indoor and outdoor pole vault program records. Studney recorded a personal best clearance of 4.11m (13' 5.75") at the Sunday Night Qualifier and stands second in the App State all-time list for her performance.
At 7 p.m. on Thursday, Johnson will race in the first round of the women's 100 meters. The top 24 finishers will advance to Saturday's 6:35 p.m. women's 100-meter quarterfinal. Johnson rounds out the qualifying list's top 25 after she stopped the clock at 11.33 in the women's 100 meters at the Sun Belt Championships (May 8-10). Her time launched her to second in the App State all-time list, just shy of the program record of 11.22, which Lamonda Miller set in 1989.
Friday's action will feature Guest in the 5:40 p.m. men's 3,000-meter steeplechase competition. Guest stands 17th in the qualifying list after he stopped the clock at 8:42.01 to break the program record in the event at the Penn Relays (April 24-26). Guest earned Sun Belt Men's Track Athlete of the Week honors for his efforts.
The top 12 finishers in each individual event and 12 teams from each relay event from the NCAA East First Round will advance to the NCAA Championships. The NCAA Championships will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. on June 5-8.
