11 Arizona athletes punch tickets to NCAA Track and Field Championships

Arizona track and field will send 11 athletes to NCAA Championships, with seven individuals and a relay team advancing out of West First Round Championships in Sacramento.

Three more athletes punched their tickets Saturday: Talie Bonds in the 100m hurdles, Alexa Porpaczy in the high jump and Tapenisa Havea in the discuss. They join the men’s 4x100 relay team of Trayvion White-Austin, Brian Limage, Carl Hicks and James Onanubosi, as well as Youssef Koudssi in the discuss, Jared O’Riley in the javelin, and Koudssi, Jordan Geist and Zach Landa in the shot put.

“I felt our team competed at the highest level,” said Arizona coach Fred Harvey. “To get almost half of your squad that came to move on to the NCAA finals, that’s a big feat. I was also super proud of our younger athletes that came and didn’t make it through, because at the end of the day, they have to get here to understand how the NCAA Championships work. We had big, big performances across the board. I’m super proud of the team. We’re building as we should be and we’re going to have some great performances when we get to Austin.”

On Saturday, Havea finished seventh in the discuss with a personal best throw of 55.11m (180-9). Havea, a freshman, was the first Arizona woman to qualify for NCAA Championships.

She was followed by Porpaczy in the high jump, who finished fifth in the event with a 1.82m (5-11.5).

Bonds rounded out Saturday qualifiers with a second place showing in the 100m hurdles, running a time of 12.72.

“I’m super, super excited,” said Bonds. “This is all I wanted, so I’m relieved that the weekend is over and that I made it. Last year we had very few numbers advance, there were only four of us, so I think the environment and the support is going to be really cool in Austin. It will definitely help all of us perform to the best of our ability.”

NCAA Championships will be held in Austin on June 7-10.