RESULTS

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Zack Short qualified for the NCAA Championships on the first day of the West Region Preliminaries, while six other Vandals competed on Wednesday.

"I thought the men competed great today. A lot of the guys came in and beat their rank. I saw them going for it and giving it everything they had and you really can't ask for anything more than that," said director of track and field/cross country Tim Cawley. "Our young guys got some really good experience. It was a solid, good day for us. I'm really excited that Zack got through in the shot and it'll be great to see him compete in Eugene. It'll be great to see Zach Nunis compete again in a couple days and see the women have their shot on Saturday, but overall, I'm just really proud of the men today." 

Short finished fifth in the shot put, putting up an outdoor personal best mark of 19.71m/64'8". That heave puts him third in the Vandal outdoor record book and vaults him into a spot at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 9.

In the first event of the day, Grady Leonard and Cullen Williams competed in the hammer throw. Leonard was 25th with a mark of 61.28m/201'0" while Williams finished 39th with a heave of 58.20m/190'11". Leonard was the top Big Sky finisher. The two Vandals entered the competition ranked 33rd and 34th, respectively in the West.

In the long jump, Zachary Nunis finished tied for 17th in the field, leaping 7.59m/24'11". He came in ranked 23rd in the West. Nunis will compete again on Friday in the triple jump.

Ben Doucette competed in the 110m hurdles. He placed 33rd with a time of 14.05.

In the 1500m, Tim Stevens was 42nd, finishing in 3:52.02. He entered ranked 70th in the region.

In the final event of the day for the Vandals, Deyondre Davis ran the 400m hurdles in 52.93, placing 42nd.

Vandals will be back in action on Friday with Nunis participating in the triple jump at 1:15 p.m. pacific time. Tayler LyDay and Malaina Thacker will both compete on Saturday.

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