UCLA
NCAA West Preliminary Round
Wilson Earns Second Qualifier on Day Two of Regionals
May 25, 2018 | Track & Field
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Freshman thrower Alyssa Wilson qualified for her second NCAA Championships event in as many days as the Bruins continued competition on Friday at the NCAA West Regionals hosted by Sac State at Hornet Stadium.
The Bruins had a lighter schedule on day two of the Regionals, competing in seven events compared to the opening day's nine. UCLA wraps up the West Preliminary Round on Saturday with six events: men's javelin, women's hammer, women's triple jump, women's 4X100 relay, men's triple jump, and men's 5000m. The Bruins have top-12 seeds in the first three of those events and top-20 seeds in the latter three.
Wilson's effort in the women's discus throw highlighted UCLA's second day in Sacramento.
Competing in the third and final flight, Wilson unleashed a 53.95m (177-0) throw on the first of her three attempts, which represented her second-best launch of the 2018 outdoor season.
Good for sixth place at the time of the throw, she only ended up being passed by one other competitor and thus took seventh place. Paired with her 10th place finish in Thursday's women's shot put, she is now the first female Bruin to qualify for two individual events at the NCAA Championships since 2007 (Rhonda Watkins - long jump and high jump).
The Jackson, N.J. native has the chance to make history on Saturday if she also qualifies in the women's hammer throw, which happens to be her highest-seeded event (No. 7). Should she accomplish that feat, she'll become the fifth Bruin ever to qualify for three individual events at NCAAs and the first since 1985.
Wilson was preceded in the discus by junior Ashlie Blake, who was the No. 44 finisher at 45.97m (150-10). Blake also competed in the shot put on Thursday, taking 16th place to narrowly miss out on a qualifying spot.
Junior Greta Wagner joined Blake as an early participant in the field events, clearing the 3.78m (12-4.75) mark in the women's pole vault to take 32nd place.
The Bruins' first final result of the day came in the women's 100m hurdles, where senior Pattriana Perry raced to a 14.00 time (44th place), capping off her UCLA career.
After Perry, a pair of Bruins runners who advanced past Thursday's prelims in their respective events saw their seasons come to a close.
First, senior Joe Herrera competed in the quarterfinals of the men's 400m and ended up in 24th place at 48.81, a 10-spot improvement on his No. 34 seed heading into the week.
After Herrera, sophomore Riley Kelly raced to a No. 19 finish in the men's 800m with a time of 1:49.47, which is just a nick behind his personal record of 1:49.41 that earned him Pac-12 men's track athlete of the week honors back on Apr. 17.
Running in the first heat of the women's 200m, senior Jelvon Butler matched the best non-wind-aided time of her career at 23.79 to finish fourth in her heat and 29th overall. She missed a qualifying spot into Saturday's 200m quarterfinals by .08 seconds.
In UCLA's final event of the day, senior Emily Scharmann finished off her career with a 10:52.38 time in the women's 3000m steeplechase, good for a No. 45 result.
Follow @UCLATrack_Field on Twitter for results and updates on the the final day of the NCAA West Regionals.
Players Mentioned
