SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will send eight student-athletes to Sacramento, Calif., for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary Round on May 23-25 at Hornet Stadium.
Luca Chatham, Andre Douglas, Andrew Pirog, Patrick Prince and Vasha Sheriff will represent the UTSA men, while Orla Brothers, Olivia Esemena and Danielle Spence will travel to the West Coast for the women.
Chatham is in the NCAA West Preliminary 800 meters field for the second straight season and will run in the first round at 10:35 p.m. CT Thursday. The senior from Dallas was the C-USA Outdoor runner-up in the event and the league's indoor mile champion clocked his season-best time of 1:50.11 at the J. Fred Duckett Twilight on April 20 in Houston.
Douglas also will make his second straight trip to the NCAA preliminary round in the triple jump, which is slated for 8:30 p.m. Saturday. His season-best mark of 15.44m (50-8) came in a winning effort in March at the UTSA Invitational and he claimed the bronze medal in the event at the C-USA Outdoor on May 12.
Pirog is making a return trip the NCAA West Preliminary in the 400m hurdles and he will race in the first round at 7 p.m. Thursday. The junior out of San Antonio Reagan High School, who recently was named to the C-USA All-Academic Team, posted a season best 51.32 to finish third at the league's outdoor meet.
Prince is in the NCAA postseason 110m hurdles field for the fourth consecutive year and he will start his bid for a second straight All-America certificate in the first round at 7 p.m. Friday. A two-time C-USA champion in the event, he clocked a season-best 13.95 to secure silver at the C-USA Outdoor on May 12. The senior from Conroe finished eighth in 13.78 at last year's West Preliminary and earned honorable mention All-America accolades at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor after placing 20th.
Sheriff qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary in the 400m for the second straight season after also appearing with the 4x400m relay a year ago. The senior from Amarillo posted a season-best time of 46.51 to earn the bronze medal in the quarter at the C-USA Outdoor and he will run in the first round at 9:45 p.m. Thursday.
Brothers will make her NCAA West Preliminary debut in the 400m hurdles, which will begin with the first round at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. A freshman from Sussex, England, she clocked a season-best time of 1:00.12 at the UTSA Invitational on March 16 and placed seventh in 1:03.72 on a wet track at the C-USA Outdoor.
Esemena also will compete in the NCAA preliminary round for the first time in her career in the 100m, which will get underway with the first round at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. The junior from Arlington clocked a career best 11.48 at the Alumni Muster on April 27, a mark that ranks her fourth on UTSA's all-time performers list, and the C-USA All-Academic Team selection sped to an 11.71 for fifth at the conference meet on May 12.
Spence is packing her bags to the NCAA West Preliminary for the second year in a row and is set to compete in the triple jump at 5 p.m. Saturday. A sophomore from Jamaica, she skipped to a UTSA-record mark of 13.42m (44-0 ½) to secure silver at the C-USA Outdoor. Spence own the C-USA Indoor crown and collected second-team All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor in March in the triple jump and her outdoor PR currently ranks 16th nationally and eighth in the NCAA West field.
The top 12 finishers in each event at both the West and East Preliminary Round sites will earn a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.
UTSA freshman Gary Haasbroek has earned one of 24 spots in the decathlon at the NCAA Outdoor. Competing in his first decathlon of the year, he scored 7,395 points to run away with the C-USA crown on May 10 en route to being named co-Freshman of the Meet. A native of Melbourne, Australia, he will enter the national championship meet with the 22nd-best mark in the field, as he looks to repeat as an All-American after earning second-team accolades in the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor in March. The top 24 declared athletes qualify for the NCAA Outdoor decathlon, which is not contested at the West Preliminary.
UTSA's NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary Qualifiers
Men
Luca Chatham — 800 meters (10:35 p.m. Thursday / 8:45 p.m. Friday)
Andre Douglas — triple jump (8:30 p.m. Saturday)
Andrew Pirog — 400-meter hurdles (7 p.m. Thursday / 9:15 p.m. Friday)
Patrick Prince — 110-meter hurdles (7 p.m. Friday / 9:20 p.m. Saturday)
Vasha Sheriff — 400 meters (9:45 p.m. Thursday / 7:45 p.m. Friday)
Women
Orla Brothers — 400-meter hurdles (6:30 p.m. Thursday / 9 p.m. Friday)
Olivia Esemena — 100 meters (8:30 p.m. Thursday / 8 p.m. Friday)
Danielle Spence — triple jump (5 p.m. Saturday)
all times Central
