Ellington

In the blistering Texas heat, there was both happiness and heartbreak this weekend, as 11 members of the UW track and field team officially punched their tickets to the national championships in Eugene, Ore., next week.

The NCAA West Preliminary Round, held at the University of Texas in Austin, was the final hurdle for college athletes looking to compete in the national championships. While many succeeded, just as many fell prey to bad luck, in what head coach Greg Metcalf calls “the nature of the sport.”

The most notable example of bad luck came on Saturday evening, when Kailey Campbell and Colton Tully-Doyle were tripped up and knocked down in separate races, both failing to qualify for nationals.

Campbell’s was stuck up in a pack of 12 athletes rounding a corner, and Tully-Doyle’s bad luck came when he was tripped up as he was finishing his third-to-last lap of a 5,000-meter race.

Metcalf raced to the officials’ booth in both instances to argue his team’s case, but both trip-ups were deemed incidental. While Tully-Doyle, a junior, has the opportunity to compete next year, that isn’t the case for Campbell, who competed in her last race as a Husky.

Both will now rest and hope to compete in the U.S. Track and Field Championships at the end of this month.

Disappointment, though, turned out to be in short supply for the Huskies in the Lone Star state.

The javelin, which kicked off the three-day event, was a sign of success to come for the Huskies. Throwers Joe Zimmerman and Kyle Nielsen both qualified for nationals after throwing 71.71 meters and 69.99 meters respectively.

Zimmerman hit that distance — which was second overall — in his first throw, and Nielsen reached the fourth-place mark on his second and only eligible throw of the competition.

Zimmerman, a freshman, was “pretty sure” he was going to make it to Eugene before the competition, but did not anticipate the result.

“I was shocked, and I definitely wasn’t expecting to get second,” Zimmerman said. “I was more concerned about making it to nationals, so it was a big surprise.”

Pole vaulters Scott Roth and Ryan Vu finished tied for first and fourth respectively, which qualified them both for nationals. Roth was perfect on the two highest jumps after passing the lower four, ultimately clearing the maximum 5.3 meters.

Vu, on the other hand, missed his first attempt at 5.1 meters, but after switching to a longer pole, he didn’t miss again.

Sprinter James Alaka qualified for nationals in two events, the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, after finishing eighth in both. Alaka shaved 0.07 seconds off his first time to qualify in the 100-meter dash, running a 10.42. Had he not, his time would not have qualified in the final round.

“It was just a do-or-die,” Alaka said. “I just had to make nationals. I didn’t really run particularly well over the 100, and I knew that I just had to confirm, so I guess that’s why my second time was a bit faster.”

Falesha Ankton, who set a personal record in the 100-meter hurdles, and Katie Follett, who fought a stomach sickness to move on in the 1,500-meter, both qualified as well.

Jeremy Taiwo also qualified in the decathlon, as did Mel Lawrence in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Zack Midles in the hammer and Anita Campbell in the 10,000-meter.

Overall, Metcalf was content with the way the weekend played out.

“We have a handful of athletes going to the championships,” he said. “It wasn’t perfect, but our weekend went pretty well.”

Reach contributing reporter William Dow at development@dailyuw.com.