Ten Wyoming Athletes Qualify for NCAA West First Round

Ten Wyoming Athletes Qualify for NCAA West First Round

Photo from gowyo.com

INDIANAPOLIS — Ten University of Wyoming track and field athletes qualified in 10 events for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field West First Round, which will take place May 28–31 in College Station, Texas.

Representing the Cowboys and Cowgirls at the preliminary round are junior Cam Burkett (shot put), senior Jaheim Ferguson (400-meter hurdles), senior Ryker Holtzen (3,000-meter steeplechase), freshman Charles LaFore (hammer throw), freshman Taliah Morris (100 meters, 200 meters and long jump), junior Remar Pitter (long jump), senior Daniel Reynolds (hammer throw and shot put), senior Albert Steiner (3,000-meter steeplechase), junior Jacob White (5,000 meters), and senior Abigail Whitman (3,000-meter steeplechase).

Burkett, who will compete in the West First Round for the third consecutive year, enters ranked No. 15 in the region in the shot put with a top mark of 63 feet, 1 1/4 inches (19.23 meters), which he set at the Doug Max Invitational.

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Ferguson qualified in the 400-meter hurdles with the No. 30 time in the region. His mark of 50.75 seconds came at the Kit Mayer Classic. This is his second straight trip to the West First Round.

Holtzen will run in his third career First Round steeplechase. His qualifying time of 8:35.70, which earned him the No. 11 spot in the West, came in a fifth-place finish at the Stanford Invitational.

LaFore is one of two freshmen from Wyoming to qualify. He ranks No. 18 in the hammer throw after hitting 218 feet, 9 inches (66.68 meters). That throw is also the No. 8 all-time U.S. U20 mark.

Morris, a freshman, is the only competitor in the West First Round to qualify for the 100 meters, 200 meters and long jump. She posted qualifying marks in each event in her first outdoor season with the Cowgirls.

Pitter earned the No. 23 best long jump in the region and will compete in his first NCAA outdoor First Round. The junior is a 2024 indoor second-team All-American after placing 15th nationally in the event.

Reynolds qualified in both the shot put and hammer throw. He ranks No. 11 in the West in the shot put and No. 6 in the hammer throw. Reynolds is the 2024 indoor national champion in the weight throw and competed in the hammer throw at last year’s outdoor First Round.

Steiner qualified for the steeplechase for the fourth time, having also done so in 2021, 2022 and 2024. He enters this year’s meet as the No. 46 seed.

White will compete in the 5,000 meters for the second time in his career, choosing to focus solely on that event despite also posting a qualifying time in the 1,500 meters. He previously ran the 5,000 meters at the West First Round in 2023.

Whitman earned the final qualifying spot in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:24.48. It marks her first appearance at an NCAA track and field championship meet.

The top 48 athletes in each event from the region earn a bid to the West First Round, which serves as the qualifier for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.