JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Auburn sprinter Favour Ashe, jumper Dontavious Hill and hurdler Moitalel Mpoke punched their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Friday at the NCAA East Preliminaries meet at the Hodges Stadium on the University of North Florida campus.
Ashe clocked a wind-aided 9.92 in the 100m dash to set a new personal-best and finish fourth overall. Without the wind, the underclassman would have threatened the school record of 9.96 set by Harry Adams in 2012. Freshman Azeem Fahmi ran a strong race coming through the line in a new personal-best 10.04 to narrowly miss qualifying by one place.
All-American Hill qualified for his second consecutive outdoor national championship after finishing ninth in the high jump clearing 2.14m/7-0.25. After missing his first attempt at each height, Hill remained poised clearing 2.14m on his third attempt to secure a qualifying spot. The Mobile, Alabama native will look to better his bronze medal winning performance from last year's championships in Eugene, Oregon.
In the 400m hurdles, senior Mpoke battled the strong winds to cross the line in 51.18 to finish ninth overall. The Texas A&M transfer secured an automatic qualifying spot to the semifinal race in Austin in two weeks.
Auburn now has nine individuals qualified for the outdoor championships in Austin, Texas, June 7-10, including throwers Erik Ebel, Kyle Brown, and Kyle Moison and on the women's side, throwers Madi Malone and Maura Huwalt, all joining decathlete John Murrary who qualified earlier this season.
The Auburn women will return to action on Saturday starting with Maura Huwalt in the discus throw at 1:00 p.m. ET, with the 4x400m relay signaling the conclusion of the day for the Tigers at 8:45 p.m. ET.
A live stream of the NCAA East Preliminaries can be found here. Live stats can be found at flashresults.com.
NCAA EAST PRELIMINARIES
FRIDAY, MAY 26
Men's High Jump
9. Dontavious Hill 2.14m/7-0.25
30. TJ Funches 1.99m/6-6.25
Men's 100m
4. Favour Ashe 9.92*
11. Azeem Fahmi 10.04*
Men's 400m Hurdles
9. Moitalel Mpoke 51.18
Men's 5,000m
8. Ryan Kinnane 13:55.61
SATURDAY, MAY 28 (ET)
1:00 P.M. W Discus – Maura Huwalt
2:30 P.M. W High Jump – Sanaa Barnes
6:00 P.M. W Triple Jump – Amy Warren
6:35 P.M. W 100m – Chante Clinkscale
7:25 P.M. W 400m Hurdles – Abasiono Akpan
8:45 P.M. W 4x400m Relay – Auburn
*- personal best
