14 Lions Ready to Compete at NCAA Outdoor Track Eastern Prelims

Wednesday, May 24

Jacksonville, Fla.

3 p.m.

Columbia University

NCAA Eastern Prelims

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin

14 Lions Ready to Compete at NCAA Outdoor Track Eastern Prelims

5/23/2023 5:30:00 PM | Track and Field

Live Results WATCH (DAY 1)WATCH (DAY 2)WATCH (DAY 3)WATCH (DAY 4)EVENT SCHEDULE CHAMPIONSHIP INFO

Competition begins Wednesday morning in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — 14 Columbia Track & Field student-athletes are set to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field NCAA Championship Eastern Prelims which begin on Wednesday morning at the University of North Florida. The competition spans four days and will conclude on Saturday, May 27. All 14 Lions will be looking to finish in the top-12 of their respective events and punch their ticket to the NCAA Championship finals next month.

The first Lion to compete will be Obiora Okeke, who will take part in the first round of the shot put at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Later in the night on Wednesday, Devon Davey (400m), Justin O'Toole (800m) and Chris Balthazar (200m) will also be in action in the first round of their respective events. They will look to advance to the quarterfinals which will be on Friday evening.

Nikki Vanasse will be the first woman to compete, participating in the first round of the 1500m on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Sydney Goldson will also compete in the first round of the 400m on Thursday night at 7:25 p.m. They will both look to advance to the quarterfinals which will take place on Saturday evening.

Jacob Ireland will compete in the quarterfinals of the 3000m steeplechase on Friday at 5:40 p.m. Meanwhile, the men's 4x400m relay squad consisting of Davey, Haydn Brotschi, Max Comfere, Jahi Hernandez will run in the quarterfinals at 8:45 p.m. on Friday.

Julia Jordahl-Henry & Anna Jordahl-Henry will get things started on Saturday, competing in the first round of the high jump at 2:30 p.m. Later in the day, Victoria Patterson will see her first action on Saturday at 5:40 p.m. in the 3000m steeplechase quarterfinals.

The full schedule for every event can be found HERE. Follow along with live results HERE.

For qualified athletes who finish in the top-12 of their respective events at the Eastern Prelims, the NCAA Championship finals will begin on Wednesday, June 7 in Austin Texas.

COLUMBIA QUALIFYING MARKS
Women
400m: Sydney Goldson (45th - 53.68)
1500m: Nikki Vanasse (26th - 4:17.06)
5000m: Phoebe Anderson (6th - 15:44.97)
3000m Steeplechase: Victoria Patterson (6th - 9:51.02)
High Jump: Julia Jordahl-Henry (37th - 1.76m), Anna Jordahl-Henry (42nd - 1.75m)

Men
200m: Chris Balthazar (18th - 20,41)
400m: Devon Davey (46th - 46.76)
800m: Justin O'Toole (20th - 1:47.84)
3000m Steeplechase: Jacob Ireland (48th - 8:56.17)
Shot Put: Obiora Okeke (48th - 17.74m)
4x400m Relay: Devon Davey, Haydn Brotschi, Max Comfere, Jahi Hernandez (19th - 3:08.29)

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