LAWRENCE, Kan. – Five Vandals from the Idaho track and field team have made the trip out to the University of Kansas for the NCAA Championships First Round, beginning on Thursday and running through Saturday.
Live streaming and results will be available through the links to the right. The full schedule of events is also available on the right (times are Central). Fans can also stay live with all the action by following @IdahoTrack on Twitter.
Arphaxad Carroll gets things started for the Vandals with the long jump, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Pacific on Thursday. Carroll won the Big Sky Conference two weeks ago with a leap of 7.51 meters, his best jump of the season. He enters the meet ranked 34th in the event. No stranger to the national stage, Carroll competed in the triple jump at the NCAA First Round in 2014.
Matt Sullivan will be making his third appearance in the NCAA First Round, competing in the pole vault at 2:30 p.m. Pacific on Thursday. Sullivan took second at the Big Sky Championships in the event, clearing 5.20 meters for his best jump of the outdoor season. He last competed in the outdoor Championships in 2014, advancing to the Division I Outdoor Championships in Eugene after an eight-place finish in the first round. Sullivan is currently ranked 38th in the event but is just three centimeters out of the top-25.
Ben Ayesu-Attah will get the 400-meters started at 5:45 p.m. Pacific. Ayesu-Attah is making his fourth appearance in the NCAA First Round, after competing in the 400-meters in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He finished third in the event at the Big Sky Championships and ran a career-best time of 46.60 seconds at the Bryan Clay Invitational in mid-April. Ayesu-Attah is ranked 23rd in the event.
Kinsey Gomez will represent the women on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Pacific in the 10,000-meters. Gomez did not compete in the event at the Big Sky Championships, but ran the fastest time in the conference during the season at 33:23.59. The time is a career-best for the senior and is the fastest in the history of Idaho track and field, shattering a 35-year old record. Gomez enters the meet ranked ninth among a very competitive field.
Rounding out the competitors, Derek Haas will begin competition in the javelin at 10 a.m. Pacific on Friday. Haas finished sixth in the event at the Big Sky Championships, scoring three points for the Vandals. He has a season-best throw of 62.65 meters, ranking him 45th in the West. However, his career-best of 64.54 meters, done during his freshman campaign, would have him just outside the top-30.
Ian Middleton also earned the right to compete but was forced to withdraw due to injury. Middleton took eighth in the javelin at the Big Sky Championships and threw a career-best 66.63 meters at the Stanford Invitational in early April.
Check back with GoVandals.com following each day to get the full recap and reactions.
To stay current on all Vandal Athletics visit GoVandals.com, or follow the Vandals on Twitter, @Idaho_Vandals.
Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho track and field/cross country by following the team on Twitter @IdahoTrack.
