Women's Track & Field | May 17, 2018
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Five members of the Western Michigan track and field team have earned a chance to compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Championship, beginning on Thursday, May 24 at the University of South Florida.
Redshirt sophomore Sarah Anderson (800-meter run), senior Hanne Christensen (10,000-meter run), sophomore Erin Dowd (400-meter hurdles), redshirt sophomore Gabrielle Collins (long jump), and junior Audrey Oswalt (javelin) will make the trek down to Tampa Bay for the right to compete for a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Oswalt earned the final qualification spot in the javelin after throwing career-high of 147' 7" (44.98 meters) at the MAC Championship. The former WMU women's basketball walk-on took second place in the event and earned Second Team All-MAC honors. She will be the first of the WMU athletes to compete, throwing on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Anderson heads into the meet ranked 19th in the region, the highest of any Bronco, in the event with a seed time of 2:05.95. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native won a Mid-American Conference title in the event last weekend and competes at the NCAA East Preliminaries for the first time in her career on Thursday evening at 8:35 p.m. Should she advance to the quarterfinals, she will compete on Friday at 6:45 p.m.
Christensen enters the 10,000 with a seed time of 35:14.38 and will also compete on Thursday night at 9:40 p.m. The Grand Blanc, Mich., native will need to finish in the in the top 12 to advance to the finals at the NCAA Championship.
Also competing on Thursday will be Collins in the long jump at 7:30 p.m. Collins is also fresh off of a MAC title win after jumping the second-furthest distance in program history at 20' 2.5" (6.16 meters).
Dowd is the lone WMU athlete that is guaranteed to compete on Friday. The reigning MAC 400 hurdle champion is seeded 33rd in the region with a time of 59.08, but just over a second from the top 15. Dowd will compete at 7:15 p.m.
The NCAA Outdoor Championships take place June 6-9 at the legendary Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
