SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Katara Nelson kicked off New Mexico State's run at the NCAA West Preliminaries on Thursday. The sprinter's time qualified Nelson for the event quarterfinals on Friday.
"Katara did a great job at her first West Regional," head coach
Doug Reynolds said. "There are things we can improve on heading into the qualifier, but she did exactly what she needed to and advanced to the next round."
Nelson posted a time of 53.30 to finish fourth in her heat. The senior reached the quarterfinals for the event as Nelson's time placed her in 19th overall following the first round of the event.
"With this being her first meet, I thought Katara handled herself well," volunteer sprints coach
Jenna Banegas said. "Her race plan got a little fuzzy but she held her own against top competition. She made sure she was in the race and she competed well. Tomorrow, I expect her to clean up her mistakes, distribute her race better, and come out stronger.
Event quarterfinals for the 400m are set to begin at 6:45 p.m. MT on Friday. For Saturday's events,
Hannah Smith competes in the triple jump at 5:30 p.m., and the Aggie relay team of
Tanisha Scott,
Dominique Joiner,
Lashira Tremble and Nelson takes the track for the 4 x 100m at 7:15 p.m.
The top-12 finishers from each event at the regional qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which are set to take place in Eugene, Ore., from June 6-9. Fans can follow along with the live results from the event, provided by the NCAA.
