SACRAMENTO, Calif. – While running a school record in the 800 meters, senior Luca Chatham advanced into the NCAA Championships to highlight UTSA action, on Friday at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminary Round at Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium.
Chatham, a native of Dallas, earned an 11th place finish, running a 1:48.38, just ahead of Southern Utah's George Espino (1:48.39). It eclipses the previous school record, previously set by Larry Brooks (2007) at 1:48.44. The top 12 finishers earned spot in the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 5-8 in Austin, Texas. He posted a 1:51.33 to earn a spot in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
In the 110-meter hurdles, UTSA senior Patrick Prince charted a season-best 13.91 mark to finish 15th. Prince finished just behind Nebraska's Luke Siedhoff (13.88) and narrowly ahead of Iowa State's Mason Weh (13.92). It pushes Prince into the quarterfinals on Saturday at 9:20 p.m. CT. A native of Conroe, Texas, Prince is a two-time Conference USA Champion and a four-time NCAA postseason qualifier in the 110-meter hurdles. In 2018, Prince posted a 13.78 to finish eighth in the West Preliminary and earned All-America accolades at the NCAA Outdoor with a 20th place finish.
Friday's action came after four Roadrunners opened the three-day meet on Thursday, including Vasha Sheriff (400 meters), Andrew Pirog (400m hurdles), Olivia Esemena (100 meters) and Orla Brothers (400m hurdles).
UTSA Schedule
Men
Andre Douglas — triple jump (8:30 p.m. Saturday)
Patrick Prince — 110-meter hurdles (9:20 p.m. Saturday)
Women
Danielle Spence — triple jump (5 p.m. Saturday)
all times Central
UTSA Results
110m Hurdles
15. Patrick Prince: 13.91 (season best)
800m
11. Luca Chatham: 1:48.38 (personal best)
Explaining the NCAA Championships format
The East and West regions are comprised of all Division I institutions in 25 states apiece for each of the two regions.
Twelve performers from each preliminary site advance to the NCAA Championships – hosted at Texas' Mike A. Myers Stadium June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.
The East and West Preliminary Championship intended to have parallel schedules. California State University, Sacramento will host NCAA West Prelims the same days.
For each individual event contested at each of the preliminary sites, the top 48 declared student-athletes were accepted into the competition. For each relay event, the top 24 declared relay teams were accepted into the competition.
For the heptathlon and decathlon, the top 24 declared student-athletes in each event based on their position on the national descending-order list were accepted into the Championships. Heptathlon and decathlon are not contested at preliminary championships sites.
But as it relates to the NCAA Championships, qualifying entries into the preliminary championships is less significant than the number of entries who make it through prelims and advance to Eugene for the NCAA Championships.
NCAA track and field fans can watch a live stream of the NCAA Division I East and/or West Preliminary Championships as FloTrack Pro subscribers. The subscription will include access to all FloTrack live broadcasts, video on-demand from all events, documentaries, technique videos and more. Coverage of the preliminary competitions will be available May 23 - 25 at www.flotrack.org.
- UTSA -
