MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama outdoor track & field team will send 10 representatives to compete in the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Fla., May 23-25. Qualifiers were announced today by the NCAA. 
 
Jaguars returning to the NCAA East Preliminary Round include Sean Collins (pole vault), Taylor Dames (high jump), Autavia Fluker (shot put, hammer throw), Michaela Preachuk (hammer throw), Olivia Swan (400m hurdles, high jump) and Hanna-Mai Vaikla (javelin). 
 
Making their first appearance at the regional event will be freshman Hunter Appling (110m hurdles), sophomore Christian Ellis (triple jump) and seniors Thomas Boyd (hammer throw) and Jobi Finau (discus).  
 
Appling earned first-team all-conference recognition and took the top spot in the Jaguar record books with a 14.04-second 110m hurdles time at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championship. It was the best time in the league this season. 
 
Boyd recorded a 58.44m (191-08.75) hammer throw at the Southern Miss Invitational to claim a spot at the regionals for the first time in his career. The mark is ninth on the all-time USA performance list. 
 
Collins won his fourth consecutive conference championship this season and broke the Sun Belt pole vault record he set in 2016 with a 5.53m (18-01.75) effort which ranks fourth in the NCAA East Region.
 
Dames makes her third regionals high jump appearance after recording a second-place, 1.74m (5-08.50) mark at the South Alabama Invitational. 
 
Ellis shattered a 35-year-old USA record with a 15.75m (51-08.25) triple jump at the Florida Relays. He ranks among the top 20 in the East. 
 
Finau's 51.13m (167-08.75) discus throw at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championship earned the Pensacola, Fla., native his first trip to regionals and was his longest since 2016.             
 
Fluker qualified for last year's regionals shot put competition and will be making her first appearance in the preliminary round hammer throw. The junior is ranked among the top 25 in the East Region with a school-record 16.22m (53-02.75) shot put mark at the Triton Invitational and qualified for the hammer throw with a 60.56m (198-08.25) that is third on the all-time Jaguar performance list. 
 
Preachuk makes her second consecutive regionals appearance after a 61.59m (202-00.75) hammer throw at the Texas Relays. The senior broke her own school record and holds one of the top 30 marks in the East.
 
Swan will enter the high jump and 400m hurdles competitions. The senior qualified for the high jump for the second year in a row with a first-place, 1.78m (5-10.00) clearance at Samford's Alabama Track Challenge. She ran the 400m hurdles in a season-best 59.67 seconds to take first-team all-conference honors at her final Sun Belt meet. 
 
Vaikla recorded a 48.42m (158-10.00) javelin throw at the Southern Miss Invitational to rank second in the school records and 25th in the NCAA East Region. It is the sophomore's second regionals appearance in the event.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Finish Line Club, the track and field and cross country specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.  All donations to the Finish Line Club go directly to support the South Alabama track and field/cross country programs.  For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/finishlineclub

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