EDWARDSVILLE – Keith Meyer and Claire Nolan will be aiming to finish among the top 12 this week in their respective events at the NCAA Division I West Preliminary Track and Field Championships.
The SIUE duo will be travelling to Austin, Texas, at Mike A. Myers Stadium looking to qualify for the NCAA Division I Championships set for June 7-10 in Eugene, Oregon.
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Meyer will be competing in the 10,000 at 9:40 p.m. Thursday. There will be 48 runners competing for 12 spots at the national meet. Meyer's qualifying time of 29 minutes, 34.93 seconds was a school record.
The event will have a double waterfall start. The top 18 qualifiers will be in the front row. The next nine will be staggered out to the right. The rest of the field will be stationed behind the top qualifiers.
"It may not go out fast," but it's still going to be a competitive field," said Meyer.
Nolan, who qualified for the regionals with a toss of 49 feet, 3.75 inches (15.03m) at the Memphis Invitational in late April, will be in the first of four seeded flights in the shot put. Her event is set to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday. Throwers will get just three attempts, and there will not be a final round as the top 12 finishers regardless of flight advance to nationals.
"I feel like I have a lot more in the tank," said Nolan. "This meet could be a redeeming factor for me because I didn't do as well as I wanted at the conference meet."
