LEXINGTON, Ky. - Current NCAA pole vault leader Matthew Gray led the way for App State at the NCAA East First Round, punching his ticket for the June 10-13 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Lilly Nichols and Kendall Johnson also turned in season-best performances for a Mountaineer representation that included a program record-tying seven athletes attempting to qualify for the national meet.
How it Happened
It started on Wednesday night with Gray continuing his season-long vaulting dominance. He cleared a bar of 5.45m/17-10.5 (tied for best in the field) to qualify for Eugene. He has tied or had the best clearance at every outdoor competition this season. The Bryson City native became the third Mountaineer in the last four years to qualify and the first male athlete since 2015. He looks to win the first outdoor national championship for App State Track and Field since 2001.
Nichols gave it her all in the pole vault, soaring to a new season-best 4.22m/13-10, which was tied for the 11th-best clearance of the competition. She was just shy of her school record, but due to other competitors with fewer attempts, she fell just short of qualifying for a top 12 berth to Eugene. Meanwhile, Ava Studney cleared her fourth-best bar of the season at 3.92m/12-10.25, just a few inches shy of her career best and a mark that would be good enough for fourth place in school history.
Johnson ran an impressive 11.37 seconds in the women's 100 meters, tying her season best and a time that is just .06 seconds off her personal best, which is second in school history. She finished just one place off qualifying, missing out by less than 0.2 seconds.
App State's three men who achieved 3000-meter steeplechase times all under 8:52 at the Sun Belt Championships to qualify for the NCAA East First Round were Derek Waite, Ethan Lipham, and Thomas Wlazlowski. Wlazlowski was just a few seconds away from his personal best he set a few weeks ago, finishing with a time of 9:03.26. Lipham finished right behind him with a time of 9:08.97, while Waite crossed in 9:43.24.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will send Gray to Eugene, Oregon, to compete for a national title in the men's pole vault on June 10.
