PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State men’s and women’s track and field will send a combined 16 student-athletes — eight men and eight women — to compete at the 2023 NCAA Division I West Preliminary Round in Sacramento, Calif. The Cougars’ women’s 4X100-meter relay team will also compete at next week’s opening round of the 2023 NCAA Track and Field Championships, hosted by Sacramento State at Hornet Stadium.
Brazilian national Micaela De Mello earned All-American honors as a true freshman in the women’s 100m hurdles, she finished fifth at last week’s Pac-12 Championships, and will return to this year’s NCAA West Preliminary with the 14th-fastest qualifying time at 13.09. Also representing the Cougar women, Elena Willems goes into next week’s West preliminary competition with the 19th-best time (2:05.48) in the region, a time that ranks sixth all-time at WSU.
On the men’s side, sophomore thrower Ronald Grueso Mosquera returns for this second-career appearance at the West preliminary round and owns the 18th-best mark (19.16m) men’s shot put field. The native of Cali, Columbia, will also compete in next week’s men’s discus after posting a seventh-place finish with a mark of 56.57m at last week’s Pac-12 Championships.
Jared McAlvey (400m hurdles) finished runner-up at last week’s Pac-12 Championships in 50.23, a time that ranks seventh all-time at WSU ninth in the West region. In addition to McAlvey, Zach Stallings (1500m run) and Louie Hinchliffe (100m dash) will also carry top-25 times in their respective fields going into the West preliminary rounds.
The top 48 declared student-athletes in the national descending-order list in each event are accepted into the West Preliminary Round in addition to the top 24 declared relay teams. Multi events will not be contested at the NCAA First Round sites. For combined events (heptathlon and decathlon), the top 24 declared student-athletes in the national descending-order list will be accepted directly into the NCAA Championships.
The 2023 NCAA West Preliminary Round will begin on Wednesday, May 24, and will be streamed live on ESPN + with the opening day’s events slated to begin at 6 p.m. PST.
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