COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Three Wyoming Cowboys competed in the first day at the 2021 Outdoor Track & Field Championships NCAA West Preliminaries hosted by Texas A&M University on Wednesday afternoon.
Kareem Mersal, William Nolan and Kirk Unland got things started for Wyoming Track & Field with two more days of competition left for the Cowboys and Cowgirls. Mersal and Nolan in the Long Jump while Unland was in the field of the Hammer Throw.
Unland's best throw of 209-7 in the Hammer Throw earned him a 17th place among the top 48 qualifiers from the West Region. This caps the career for the Cowboy thrower who leaves Laramie as a multi-time Mountain West Champion and at No. 6 on the UW All-Time Top 10 Event List in the Hammer. That personal best from Unland of 214-2 was set this season.
"Kirk has finished his career as the 6th best hammer thrower in UW history and that is a proud accomplishment," said Assistant Coach Carrie Lane. "His performance was solid but of course not quite where we were aiming. He can hang his head high on an overall outstanding career that showed major improvements throughout his time as a Cowboy."
Mersal and Nolan finished in 20th and 36th place respectively in the men's Long Jump. Mersal went 24-9.75 on his first jump of the completion for his best mark of the day and a new personal best. The Cowboy freshman wraps up his campaign for the Cowboys sitting in 7th place on the UW All-Time Top 10 Event List. On the other hand, Nolan is ready for the Triple Jump set for Friday afternoon at 3:15 (CDT). Nolan is one of 13 student-athletes to qualify for both the Long Jump and Triple Jump at this week's prelims.
On the slate for Wyoming tomorrow is the women's Hammer Throw at 1:30PM and the women's Long Jump at 3:15PM. Mary Carbee will go for the Cowgirls in the Hammer while freshman Sadie McMullen will compete in the Long Jump.
Lane continued, "Mary has made major improvements this year — throwing 49m in her freshman year to almost 59m in her (redshirt) sophomore year. It will be a great experience in her young career to go head to head with such a deep field of throwers."
Qualifying to the NCAA Championships site is accomplished through performance in the Preliminary Round competition. Twelve competitors from each individual event and twelve teams from each relay event advance from each Preliminary Round site. The individual event student-athletes and relay teams accepted into Championships competition based on their performance at Preliminary Round competition will be announced and posted on NCAA.com the week prior to Championships competition. The championships, scheduled for June 9-12, will be held in Eugene, Ore.
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