Bobcat freshman qualifies for NCAA National Meet

Chris Preddie punched his ticket to the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships as the freshman qualified in the men’s long jump on Wednesday at the 2023 NCAA West Prelims at Hornet Stadium.

Preddie, from Little River Academy, Texas, became the second Texas State men’s long jumper in the last three years to qualify for the national championships thanks to a leap of 7.66 meters/25-1.75 on day one of the prelims. It was ninth-best in the field of 48, placing him in the top-12 that qualify for nationals.

Overall, seven Bobcats competed on Wednesday. In addition to Preddie advancing to the next meet, Daniel Harrold broke a school record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s 110 meter hurdles. He ran the fourth-fastest time overall in the first round and earned the automatic qualifier into Friday’s quarterfinals by winning his heat with a time of 13.64. He broke the school record that he set in April 2022.

Harrold, a senior, was only nine-hundredths of a second off the top time in the 110 hurdles on Wednesday. He will race in the quarterfinals on Friday 8:15 pm CT.

Ashton Callahan finished third in his heat in the men’s 200 to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals (9:50 pm) as well. The senior ran a personal-best 20.78 in the second heat and moved on to his first prelims quarterfinals as an individual in his career.

Grady Leonard also set a school record on Wednesday as he had a throw of 67.14m/220-3 in the men’s hammer throw. However, he fell less than three feet shy and one spot short of advancing to the NCAA Championships as he finished 13th.

Leonard also competed in the shot put, finishing 28th with a mark of 17.91m/58-9.25.

Dominick Yancy narrowly missed qualifying for the quarterfinals in the men’s 400. The senior ran 46.28 in the first round and placed 25th – just two-hundredths of a second short of the top-24 that advance.

Other Bobcats who competed on Wednesday included: Simon Thor, who finished 47th in the men’s javelin (54.50m/178-10) and 29th in the men’s pole vault (4.90m/16-0.75) Taahir Kelly, who placed 30th in the first round of the men’s 400 The Texas State women’s team will start its stint at the NCAA West Prelims on Thursday. Live results will be available throughout the day while the meet will also be shown on ESPN+.