UNI track and field: Qualifiers set for NCAA West Preliminary meet

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- Following a pair of third place team finishes at last week's Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships, 15 athletes from the UNI roster have qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Meet in nine events.

The NCAA Preliminary Meets serve as the first round site for the national postseason meet, which will be held in Eugene, Oregon at Hayward Field, June 11-14. The two preliminary meets this year will be held in College Station, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M University, and Jacksonville, Florida, hosted by the University of North Florida, both of which will run May 28-31.

To qualify for the preliminary meets, athletes must rank in the top-48 in an individual event and top-24 for relays in their respective regions. Athletes competing in multi-event competitions (heptathlon and decathlon) will not compete at the preliminary site as the top-24 ranked competitors in the nation will automatically qualify for competition in Eugene. Top-12 finishers at the preliminary meets will earn qualification to the finals site in Oregon.

Among Northern Iowa's qualifiers is a quartet of 2025 MVC outdoor champions, including Katie Fare (women's shot put) and Brendan Safley (men's pole vault), the Most Outstanding Field Athletes of last week's conference championships, as well as Justice Miller (men's javelin) and Carlie Jo Fusco (women's 400-meter hurdles). UNI will also send a trio of men to compete in the shot put in David Russell, Spencer Kessel and Carson Lienau, while Drake Hanson and Chase Knoche both qualified in the men's 800 meters.

Distance standout Emma Hoins qualified in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, while Josie Moreland punched her ticket in the women's high jump. The Panthers will also see one relay run next week in Texas as Zack Butcher, Hanson, Parker Kiewiet and Jake Bosch run the men's 4x400-meter relay (Zach Fall and Knoche as alternates).

Live coverage of the meet will be available on ESPN+.

UNI's 2025 NCAA West Preliminary Qualifiers

Men's 800m - Drake Hanson, Chase Knoche
Men's 4x400m Relay - Zack Butcher, Drake Hanson, Parker Kiewiet, Jake Bosch (alternates Zach Fall, Chase Knoche)
Men's Shot Put - David Russell, Spencer Kessel, Carson Lienau
Men's Javelin - Justice Miller
Men's Pole Vault - Brendan Safley
Women's 400m Hurdles - Carlie Jo Fusco
Women's 3,000m Steeplechase - Emma Hoins
Women's Shot Put - Katie Fare
Women's High Jump - Josie Moreland

2025 NCAA West Preliminary Schedule
Wednesday, May 28

2:30 p.m. CT - Men's Javelin (First Round) [Miller]
5:30 p.m. CT - Men's Pole Vault (Semifinals) [Safley]
6 p.m. CT - Men's Shot Put (First Round) [Russell, Kessel, Lienau)
7:50 p.m. CT - Men's 800m (First Round) [Hanson, Knoche]

Thursday, May 29

6 p.m. CT - Women's Shot Put (First Round) [Fare]
8:20 p.m. CT - Women's 400m Hurdles (First Round) [Fusco]

Friday, May 30

7:05 p.m. CT - Men's 800m (Quarterfinals)***
8:45 p.m. CT - Men's 4x400m Relay (Quarterfinals) [Butcher, Hanson, Kiewiet, Bosch]

Saturday, May 31

3:30 p.m. CT - Women's High Jump (Semifinal) [Moreland]
5:40 p.m. CT - Women's 3,000m Steeplechase (Quarterfinals) [Hoins]
7:25 p.m. CT - Women's 400m Hurdles (Quarterfinals)***

*** Pending qualification

UNI track and field action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Track and Field), X (@UNITrackFieldXC) and on Instagram (@uni_tf_xc). Schedules and rosters, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.

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