Chiariello, Robinson, Roller Advance to NCAAs at East Preliminaries
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-Three seniors, Vincenzo Chiariello (Staten Island, N.Y.), Marcus Robinson (Richmond, Va.) and Lance Roller (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) all qualified for the NCAA Championships on the second day of the NCAA East Preliminaries in Jacksonville, Fla., on Friday (May 25).
Chiariello broke the school record in the men’s hammer with a mark of of 64.29m (211′ 2″), more than a meter better than his previous best throw. He hit a distance of 62.54m (205′ 2″) in his first attempt to earn three more throws and hit his best on his fourth attempt. The mark is also a U.S. Olympic Trials provisional mark.
“Last year it (advancing to NCAAs) should have happened,” Chiariello said. “This year, I took it step-by-step, just throwing what I knew I could throw. I’m really happy that today it worked out and I threw even better than I thought I could throw.”
In the men’s 800m quarterfinals, Roller placed third in his heat and eighth overall in a time of 1:48.55 to automatically qualify to the next stage.
“It feels awesome that I get compete against the best-of-the-best and contend for a national championship,” Roller said. “I just have to bring my ‘A’ game in two weeks.”
Robinson only took two attempts in the triple jump, but that was all he needed to move on. The senior finished second with a distance of 15.99m (52′ 5.5″), which came on his second jump.
In the women’s discus, senior Erin Wykoff (St. Jacob, Ill.) placed 23rd with a mark of 46.22m (151′ 7″), while freshman Ryan Satchell (Central Islip, N.Y.) was 41st in the men’s triple jump with a mark of 14.24m (46′ 8.75″).
Junior Pearl Bickersteth (Dumfries, Va.) and sophomore Emily Kianka (Pennington, N.J.) both reached 1.72m (5′ 7.75″) in the women’s high jump and finished 23rd and 34th overall on misses, respectively.
In the women’s 400m quarterfinals, freshman Jordan Lavender (Nashville, Tenn.) finished 17th in a time of 53.57, while sophomore Bryan Lewis (Roanoke, Va.) placed ninth in his heat in the men’s 3000 steeplechase quarterfinal in 9:09.73.
The NCAA East Preliminaries conclude Saturday. The action begins at 11 a.m.