Texas Border Business
RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men’s and women’s outdoor track & field teams learned on Thursday that six student-athletes will compete in eight events at the NCAA West Preliminary Round May 26-29 at Texas A&M’s E.B. Cushing Stadium.
| Name | Event | Date | Time (CT) | Best Mark | Seed |
| Harry Barthelemy | Long Jump | May 26 | 3 p.m. | 7.48m | 45 |
| Paul May | Shot Put | May 26 | 6 p.m. | 18.09m | 36 |
| Idatonye Cheetham-West | Long Jump | May 27 | 3 p.m. | 6.24m | 36 |
| Alexandrea Hurst | Shot Put | May 27 | 6 p.m. | 16.04m | 34 |
| Tamara Woodley | 400-Meter Dash | May 27 May 29 | 7:25 p.m. 7:20 p.m. | 53.54 | 38 |
| Paul May | Discus | May 28 | 1:30 p.m. | 55.84m | 27 |
| Harry Barthelemy | Triple Jump | May 28 | 3:15 p.m. | 15.39m | 37 |
| Desirea Buerge | Discus | May 29 | 1:30 p.m. | 58.90m | 5 |
The top 12 finishers in each event from the field of 48 advance to the NCAA Championships at Oregon’s Hayward Field June 9-12.
In the case of the 400-meter dash, 24 competitors advance from the opening round to the quarterfinals before the top 12 advance to the NCAA Championships. Should Woodley advance, she will compete in the quarterfinals on May 29 at 7:20 p.m.
Graduate student Paul May and junior Harry Barthelemy are the second and third UTRGV student-athletes to every qualify in multiple events, following in the footsteps of Diamond Thomas (discus and shot put) in 2019.
This is Hurst’s second time competing in the NCAA West Preliminary Round. In 2019, she finished 37th in the shot put with a throw of 14.94 meters.
Buerge previously competed in the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships for Missouri Southern State, earning All-American honors in both the shot put and the discus by finishing second and fourth, respectively, in 2019. She also finished eighth in the discus in 2016 and 2017.
The program record holder in the discus, Buerge currently ranks 46th in the world, sixth among Americans and sixth in NCAA Division I.
