FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Wichita State track and field qualified 12 athletes to the NCAA West Preliminaries and is set for four days of competition from Wednesday to Saturday at John McDonnell Field.
 
The 2026 NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships will take place June 10-14 in Eugene, Ore. at Hayward Field. This year for the west region, the road to Eugene goes through Fayetteville, Ark., where the top 48 individual athletes and the top 24 relays in the region will compete at the NCAA West Preliminaries (NCAA First Round) May 27-30 for a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The top 12 in each event advance to the championship.
 
Nine Shocker men and three women made the cut for the West First Round of the NCAA Championships. The men compete Wednesday, May 27 and Friday, May 29, while the women compete Thursday, May 28 and Saturday, May 30.
 
Shocker athletes rank in qualifying position (Top 12) in four events entering the meet with Jelese Alexander at No. 8 in the high jump, Jason Parrish at No. 5 in the 400-meter hurdles, and Josh Parrish at No. 5 in the long jump and No. 11 in the 110-meter hurdles. Five Shockers make their return to the NCAA West Prelims as the Parrish twins make their third trip to the regional meet, and Lucy Ndungu, Chairo Ogbebor and Kelvin Acheampong make their second appearance, while seven Shockers will make their regional debut. Alexander will compete at the west regional for the first time after jumping at the NCAA East Prelims each of the last two years while competing for Southern Mississippi.
 
On the track on Wednesday, three Shockers will open up competition in the first round of the 110-meter hurdles at 6 p.m. Junior Tyler Carroll (42 seed) will race in the first heat, and junior Josh Parrish (11 seed) and freshman Jabari Armstrong (35 seed) will run in heat two. At 7 p.m. sophomore Chairo Ogbebor is set to race in heat three of the 100-meter dash prelims as the 26 seed, and at 8:20 p.m., junior Jason Parrish will race in heat three of the 400 hurdles. Sophomore Elkana Kipruto (17 seed) will close out the first day of competition with the 10,000 meters at 9:10 p.m. Josh Parrish and Travon Williams will also compete in the long jump as the No. 5 and 28 seeds at 6:30 p.m. on day one.
 
On Thursday, senior Jelese Alexander will open up the women's competition with the long jump at 6:30 p.m., jumping as the 22 seed in the event, and sophomore Shellamae Farmer will begin pole vault shortly after at 7 p.m., competing as the 41 seed. Senior Lucy Ndungu will wrap up the first day of women's competition, racing in the 10,000 meters as the 31 seed at 9:10 p.m.
 
On Friday, Kelvin Acheampong will compete in the triple jump at 6 p.m., and the quarterfinals will run for the 4x100-meter relay (5 p.m.), 110-meter hurdles (6:15 p.m.), 100 meters (6:35 p.m.) and 400-meter hurdles (7:25 p.m.).
 
Alexander will conclude the NCAA West Prelim competition for the Shockers with the high jump on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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Wednesday (Men)
6:00 p.m. – 110 hurdles – First Round
                  Heat 1, Lane 3 – Tyler Carroll (No. 42 seed)
                  Heat 2, Lane 2 – Jabari Armstrong (No. 35 seed)
                  Heat 2, Lane 4 – Josh Parrish (No. 11 seed)
6:30 p.m. – Long Jump – First Round
                  Flight 2, Position 2 – Travon Williams (No. 28 seed)
Flight 4, Position 12 – Josh Parrish (No. 5 seed)
7:00 p.m. – 100 meters – First Round
                  Heat 3, Lane 9 – Chairo Ogbebor (No. 26 seed)
8:20 p.m. – 400 hurdles – First Round
                  Heat 3, Lane 5 – Jason Parrish (No. 5 seed)
9:10 p.m. – 10,000 meters – Semifinal
                  Elkana Kipruto (No. 17 seed)
 
Thursday (Women)
6:30 p.m. – Long Jump – First Round
                  Flight 3, Position 5 – Jelese Alexander (No. 22 seed)
7:00 p.m. – Pole Vault – Semifinals
                  Flight 1, Position 10 – Shellamae Farmer (No. 41 seed)
9:10 p.m. – 10,000 meters – Semifinal
                  Lucy Ndungu (No. 31 seed)
 
Friday (Men)
5:00 p.m. – 4x100 Relay – Quarterfinals
                  Heat 3, Lane 4 – Josh Parrish, Chairo Ogbebor, Jason Parrish, Brody Anderson (No. 21 seed)
6:00 p.m. – Triple Jump – First Round
                  Flight 1, Position 4 – Kelvin Acheampong (No. 46 seed)
6:15 p.m. – 110 hurdles - Quarterfinals
6:35 p.m. – 100 meters – Quarterfinals
7:25 p.m. – 400 hurdles - Quarterfinals
 
Saturday (Women)
2:00 p.m. – High Jump – Semifinals
                  Flight 2, Position 7 – Jelese Alexander (No. 8 seed)