Eight Green Wave Athletes Qualify for NCAA East Regional
May 16, 2019 | Track & Field
NEW ORLEANS – Eight Tulane student-athletes officially qualified for the 2019 NCAA East Regional in when the NCAA announced its selections on Thursday afternoon.
The Green Wave will be represented by Emmanuel Rotich and Mckenzie Melius in the 3K steeplechase, Rebekah Markel, Alex Potts and Nastja Modic in the pole vault, Trina Malej in the triple jump, Kyah Loyd in the 100 hurdles and Maya Harewood in the 400-meter dash. To qualify, athletes had to be among the top 48 declared athletes in the region.
The 2019 NCAA East Regional will be held May 23-25 in Jacksonville, Florida. Live results and video ($) will be available.
Tulane's eight qualified athletes are its most since 2017 when it had nine. The Green Wave had seven different athletes qualify for last season's regional.
"We've seen expected growth and development from our team, and as a result we've got a good, solid group of athletes moving on to regionals," said Eric Peterson, Tulane's Director of Cross Country and Track & Field.
Rotich's qualification was never in doubt, as the four-time All-American put a stamp on his outdoor season last weekend when he was named the Co-Most Outstanding Performer of the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships in Wichita, Kansas. Rotich won the 3K steeplechase and the 5K with seeming ease, outkicking all his competition as the races wore on.
A two-time conference champion in the steeplechase and a three-time league champ in cross country, Rotich qualified for the regional with the second-fastest mark in the east. Rotich ran his fastest steeplechase of the season at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford on May 2. This week marks Rotich's third career trip to the NCAA East Regional.
The Green Wave's trio of pole vaulters had stellar seasons as well, with Markel winning the indoor and outdoor conference championship and setting new school records during both seasons. The senior cleared 4.33 meters indoors and reached the national championship meet, and outdoors she impressed with a new school record of 4.31 meters at the outdoor league championship on Saturday. Markel has won six of her seven pole vault competitions during the outdoor season and will be making her third consecutive time making the regional meet. Her clearance of 4.31 meters is the seventh-best mark in the east.
Potts and Modic made big impacts for the Green Wave as freshmen, as they and Markel swept the podium at the indoor conference championship. Both then continued their excellent freshmen campaigns by clearing four meters during the outdoor season. Modic placed third at the conference championship with a mark of 4.01 meters, and Potts scored as well with a seventh-place clearance of 3.91 meters. On the season, though, Potts had a clearance of 4.05 meters that puts her 29th in the region and fifth all-time in school history, and Modic has a clearance of 4.03 meters that got her 31st in the east and sixth in Tulane history as they head to Jacksonville.
"I'm proud of the way our team has been led by Rebekah, and her consistent level of excellence has been impressive and needed by our team," Peterson said. "It's no surprise that we have two freshmen in that event who have qualified for the first time in the history of our program."
Malej, another freshman qualifier for the Green Wave, had one of the more exciting paths to regional qualification on the team. After scoring at the indoor conference meet in February, she failed to eclipse her indoor season best until her last competition of the outdoor season. Competing in the triple jump in Wichita on Sunday, Malej reached 12.51 meters on her third jump of the day. The freshman then beat that with a distance of 12.67 meters on her final attempt, moving her from eighth to fourth in the meet and bringing her from the outside of regional qualification to comfortably in. Malej's 12.67 meters puts her 36th in the east region and sixth all-time in program history as she heads to NCAA competition in her first college season.
The conference bronze medalist in the 100 hurdles, Kyah Loyd earned her place in Jacksonville with a run of 13.55 seconds earlier in the season at the LSU Alumni Gold meet. Only a sophomore, she will head to the regional in this event for the second straight year. Less than a week ago, she won her heat at The American's Outdoor Championships with a time of 13.70 seconds and then earned third place in the finals Sunday in 13.76 seconds. She was the No. 42 qualifier in the east.
Harewood also made things very interesting in her final race of the season, winning the bronze medal in the 400 at the conference meet with a time of 53.67 seconds. She blew away her old personal record entering the weekend, knocking more than half a second off her previous best as she rocketed into regional qualification. The sophomore set the new eighth-best time in program history on Sunday and has made the regional for the first time in her career, earning the 40th spot in the region.
Mckenzie Melius saved her best race of the season for last, breaking her own school record in the 3K steeplechase by six seconds to catapult herself into the regional meet for the first time in her Tulane tenure. The senior entered Saturday's conference race with a personal best of 10:33.15, but she gutted out a time of 10:27.88 in what could have been the final race of her career. Instead, that mark earned her the No. 43 position in the east region, extending her Green Wave career for at least one more race in Jacksonville.
A full meet schedule for the NCAA East Regional is available online. Action for Tulane will begin Thursday for Harewood's first round of the 400. The pole vault, first round of the 100 hurdles and steeplechase on Friday and the triple jump will take place Saturday. National quarterfinal rounds of the 400 meters and 100 hurdles will be on the days following the first rounds.
The Green Wave will be represented by Emmanuel Rotich and Mckenzie Melius in the 3K steeplechase, Rebekah Markel, Alex Potts and Nastja Modic in the pole vault, Trina Malej in the triple jump, Kyah Loyd in the 100 hurdles and Maya Harewood in the 400-meter dash. To qualify, athletes had to be among the top 48 declared athletes in the region.
The 2019 NCAA East Regional will be held May 23-25 in Jacksonville, Florida. Live results and video ($) will be available.
Tulane's eight qualified athletes are its most since 2017 when it had nine. The Green Wave had seven different athletes qualify for last season's regional.
"We've seen expected growth and development from our team, and as a result we've got a good, solid group of athletes moving on to regionals," said Eric Peterson, Tulane's Director of Cross Country and Track & Field.
Rotich's qualification was never in doubt, as the four-time All-American put a stamp on his outdoor season last weekend when he was named the Co-Most Outstanding Performer of the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships in Wichita, Kansas. Rotich won the 3K steeplechase and the 5K with seeming ease, outkicking all his competition as the races wore on.
A two-time conference champion in the steeplechase and a three-time league champ in cross country, Rotich qualified for the regional with the second-fastest mark in the east. Rotich ran his fastest steeplechase of the season at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford on May 2. This week marks Rotich's third career trip to the NCAA East Regional.
The Green Wave's trio of pole vaulters had stellar seasons as well, with Markel winning the indoor and outdoor conference championship and setting new school records during both seasons. The senior cleared 4.33 meters indoors and reached the national championship meet, and outdoors she impressed with a new school record of 4.31 meters at the outdoor league championship on Saturday. Markel has won six of her seven pole vault competitions during the outdoor season and will be making her third consecutive time making the regional meet. Her clearance of 4.31 meters is the seventh-best mark in the east.
Potts and Modic made big impacts for the Green Wave as freshmen, as they and Markel swept the podium at the indoor conference championship. Both then continued their excellent freshmen campaigns by clearing four meters during the outdoor season. Modic placed third at the conference championship with a mark of 4.01 meters, and Potts scored as well with a seventh-place clearance of 3.91 meters. On the season, though, Potts had a clearance of 4.05 meters that puts her 29th in the region and fifth all-time in school history, and Modic has a clearance of 4.03 meters that got her 31st in the east and sixth in Tulane history as they head to Jacksonville.
"I'm proud of the way our team has been led by Rebekah, and her consistent level of excellence has been impressive and needed by our team," Peterson said. "It's no surprise that we have two freshmen in that event who have qualified for the first time in the history of our program."
Malej, another freshman qualifier for the Green Wave, had one of the more exciting paths to regional qualification on the team. After scoring at the indoor conference meet in February, she failed to eclipse her indoor season best until her last competition of the outdoor season. Competing in the triple jump in Wichita on Sunday, Malej reached 12.51 meters on her third jump of the day. The freshman then beat that with a distance of 12.67 meters on her final attempt, moving her from eighth to fourth in the meet and bringing her from the outside of regional qualification to comfortably in. Malej's 12.67 meters puts her 36th in the east region and sixth all-time in program history as she heads to NCAA competition in her first college season.
The conference bronze medalist in the 100 hurdles, Kyah Loyd earned her place in Jacksonville with a run of 13.55 seconds earlier in the season at the LSU Alumni Gold meet. Only a sophomore, she will head to the regional in this event for the second straight year. Less than a week ago, she won her heat at The American's Outdoor Championships with a time of 13.70 seconds and then earned third place in the finals Sunday in 13.76 seconds. She was the No. 42 qualifier in the east.
Harewood also made things very interesting in her final race of the season, winning the bronze medal in the 400 at the conference meet with a time of 53.67 seconds. She blew away her old personal record entering the weekend, knocking more than half a second off her previous best as she rocketed into regional qualification. The sophomore set the new eighth-best time in program history on Sunday and has made the regional for the first time in her career, earning the 40th spot in the region.
Mckenzie Melius saved her best race of the season for last, breaking her own school record in the 3K steeplechase by six seconds to catapult herself into the regional meet for the first time in her Tulane tenure. The senior entered Saturday's conference race with a personal best of 10:33.15, but she gutted out a time of 10:27.88 in what could have been the final race of her career. Instead, that mark earned her the No. 43 position in the east region, extending her Green Wave career for at least one more race in Jacksonville.
A full meet schedule for the NCAA East Regional is available online. Action for Tulane will begin Thursday for Harewood's first round of the 400. The pole vault, first round of the 100 hurdles and steeplechase on Friday and the triple jump will take place Saturday. National quarterfinal rounds of the 400 meters and 100 hurdles will be on the days following the first rounds.
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