University of Northern Iowa
NCAA West Preliminary Round
UNI track and field prepares for NCAA West Preliminary Meet in Texas
5/27/2025 10:10:00 AM | Track and Field
UNI track & field at NCAA West Preliminary Meet
- May 28-31, 2025
- 2:30 p.m. / 6 p.m. / 7:05 p.m. / 3:30 p.m. CT
- E.B. Cushing Stadium | College Station, Tex.
- WATCH (ESPN+)
- LIVE RESULTS
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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- Postseason track and field continues this week for the UNI Panthers as 15 athletes look to continue their season, competing at the NCAA West Preliminary Meet in nine events in College Station, Texas beginning on Wednesday.
Live coverage of the meet can be followed on ESPN+. The full schedule of competing Panther athletes is listed below.
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.
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 competitors in action in Texas this week is a quartet of 2025 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) outdoor champions, including Katie Fare (women's shot put) and Brendan Safley (men's pole vault), the Most Outstanding Field Athletes of this year's conference championships, as well as Justice Miller (men's javelin) and Carlie Jo Fusco (women's 400-meter hurdles).Â
Fare, a two-time MVC Women's Field Athlete of the Week honoree this season, led the conference with a 56 foot, 6.5 inch (17.23m) toss in the shot put this year, while Miller led all MVC javelin throwers with a career-best 214 foot, three inch thow. Fusco also led the league in the 400-meter hurdles (58.85) this season.
UNI will also see a trio of men to compete in the shot put, with Carson Lienau, who led the MVC with a career-best 61 foot, 2.75 inch toss this outdoor season, leading the way alongside David Russell and Spencer Kessel. Drake Hanson and Chase Knoche will also make their second NCAA West Preliminary appearance together in the 800 meters, each running under one minute, 49 seconds this year.
Distance standout Emma Hoins will take to the track in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase after a runner-up finish at the conference championships in a season where she broke the school record with a time of 10:15.39. Josie Moreland will also make her NCAA West Preliminary debut after a second-place showing at the MVC Championships, recording a career-best mark of five feet, ten inches at the Drake Relays in April.
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). UNI's qualifying time of 3:06.79 from the Cyclone Twilight ranked second in the MVC this year.
2025 NCAA West Preliminary Meet 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
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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.
Players Mentioned
