Four standout athletes from Portland State will head to Eugene for an opportunity to compete at the NCAA Regional, a pre-qualifier to the NCAA Championships, scheduled for June 11-14 in Fayetteville, Ark.
Seniors Kelsey Kahle, Jernise Saunders and Westin Morrill will join junior Nick Trubachik at the event, beginning today at Hayward Field. The regional is one of the four taking place throughout the country and will feature athletes from the Big Sky, WAC and Pac-10 Conferences, among others.
The top five student-athletes from each event automatically qualify for the National Championships. Other qualifiers can earn one of the eight at-large bids with the caveat that the at-large bids must have finished in the top 12 of their respective event.
Sprinter Jernise Saunders will be entered in the 100- and 200-meter dash. Saunders will face some of the fiercest competition in the nation in the 100m dash.
She will face a tough field in the 200m dash as well, although only eight runners in the West Region will be competing in the event. Nevertheless, Saunders felt confident that she had a legitimate chance to make it to Arkansas if she has a great race.
“I have a better chance in the 200 if I execute properly,” Saunders said. “I’m very nervous because I have the last place time coming in and both races are real competitive.”
Thrower Westin Morill will be competing in the javelin throw this weekend alongside Portland State’s Nick Trubachik.
The strong-armed duo has been dominating the javelin throw throughout the year and has finished first and second on numerous occasions. But like Saunders, the two will face some extremely difficult competition as they look to keep their seasons alive.
The competition at the Western Regional in the javelin is even stiffer than most of the other regionals across the nation. Morrill has had the difficult task of rehabbing form a torn ligament and ruptured disc in his back, in addition to preparing for this weekends meet.
“I’m excited, I’ve had the best two weeks of training in my career” Morrill said.
Junior thrower Nick Trubachik also has his sights set high this weekend, but hopes that the weekend will bring bigger news for him as he looks to qualify for the National Championship meet in his other event: the decathlon.
Although he won’t compete in the decathlon this weekend, Trubachik, who finished in second place at the Big Sky Championship two weeks ago, will find out if his score was good enough to help him make it to his first national championships.
“I feel great and very excited about the opportunity at regionals,” Trubachik said. “Training has been going great and I am ready to step it up.”
Senior jumper Kelsey Kahle will join the aforementioned threesome in representing Portland State in Eugene. After resurrecting her track and field career just two months ago, Kahle—a former star basketball player for Portland State—has improved dramatically each meet, often improving her jump by two inches each meet.
She is currently ranked eleventh in the high jump, and if her improvement continues she could be a surprise addition for Portland State on the trip to Arkansas.
Trubachik and the other athletes said that they looked forward to competing at Hayward Field and against the top competition on the West Coast. “I absolutely love it,” Trubachik said. “The crowd is very lively.”
The meet kicks off today with the javelin throw beginning around 2:40 p.m.