T&F: Eagles set for historic showing at NAIA Outdoor Championships
GULF SHORES, Ala. - The Avila Track & Field team will be well represented this week at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, with the team qualifying to compete in six events, which is the most all-time for the program in its short history.
Josh Benford and Jeremi Barnes will be representing the men's program, while Kayvona Bragg, Helen Thames, Tenka Stringer, Breonne Maltbia, Murielle Mercier and Drevon Carter will be representing the women's program for Avila at the National Championships, which will be taking place Thursday-Saturday at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Helen Thames will get things started for Avila as she runs in the Women's 400m Hurdles Trials at 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. She will be followed by Kayvona Bragg in the Women's Long Jump Finals at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday evening. Thames will once again kick off the day for Avila at 3:30 p.m. on Friday when she runs in the Women's 400m Trials, followed by Josh Benford in the Men's High Jump Finals at 4:30 p.m. Thames and fellow teammates Tenka Stringer, Drevon Carter and Breonne Maltbia will close out Friday with the Women's 4x400m Relay Trials at 7:45 p.m. Jeremi Barnes will be the final scheduled competitor to compete for Avila on Saturday as he will participate in the Men's Triple Jump Finals at 1:30 p.m.
Saturday could be a big day for Avila as the finals for the Women's 400m, Women's 400m Hurldes and the Women's 4x400m Relay will all be taking place. If Thames were to qualify for the finals of her two individual events, the 400m Hurdles Finals are scheduled for 4:10 p.m. on Saturday, and the 400m Finals would follow at 4:30 p.m. If Avila were also to qualify in the 4x400m Relay Finals, those would take place at 6:15 p.m.
NOTE: If Thames qualifies for finals in one or both of her individual events and Avila also qualifies for the 4x400m finals, she will not run in the relay finals. Stringer, Maltbia, Carter and Murielle Mercier would run the 4x400m final.
Avila has three individuals seeded in the top five of their respective events, with Josh Benford, Jeremi Barnes and Heart Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year Helen Thames all ranked fifth heading into the championships. Thames will go into the 400m with a top time of 55.13 seconds, which broke the Heart Conference record a few weeks ago in Baldwin City, Kan. Benford enters the championships ranked fifth with a top jump of 2.07m in the high jump, and Barnes enters his second Outoor National Championships ranked fifth in the triple jump with a top mark of 15.00m.
Below you will find a list of events that Avila will be competing in over the three-day National Championships, along with their national seeding:
Men's Qualifiers
Josh Benford: High Jump (Seeded 5th Nationally, 2.07m)
Jeremi Barnes: Triple Jump (Seeded 5th Nationally, 15.00m)
Women's Qualifiers
Kayvona Bragg: Long Jump (Seeded 30th Nationally, 5.60m)
Helen Thames: 400m (Seeded 5th Nationally, 55.13)
Helen Thames: 400m Hurdles (Seeded 10th Nationally, 1:02.55)
Helen Thames, Tenka Stringer, Breonne Maltbia, Murielle Mercier: 4x400m Relay (Seeded 18th Nationally, 3:54.73)
2018 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships - Schedule of Events
2018 NAIA Women's Outdoor Track & Field Tournament Central
2018 NAIA Men's Outdoor Track & Field Tournament Central
2018 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships - Live Scoring
2018 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships - Watch Live (There is a fee to watch the event live)
