NCAA WEST PRELIMINARY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mike A. Myers Stadium - Austin, Texas
May 25-27, 2017
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IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's track & field team will send five athletes to compete in six events at the NCAA West Preliminary Championships in Austin, Texas, May 25-27.
The three-day meet is hosted by the University of Texas at Austin and will be held at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Action gets underway for the 'Eaters on Thursday with senior Matt Seawright in the hammer, senior Brandon Howard in the 400m hurdles and sophomore Isaiah Jewett in the 800m. Senior Lloyd Sicard then begins his road to Eugene on Friday, while the 4x400 (Sicard, Paul Resong, Howard, Jewett) and Seawright (Discus) are also scheduled to compete on Saturday. In the first round of the track events, the top three finishers from each heat and the next six best times will advance to the quarterfinals. The top three from each quarterfinal heat and the next three best times then qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 7-10.
BIG WEST RECAP: UC Irvine is coming off a strong showing at the Big West Championships, where the 'Eaters had seven all-conference performances, led by Lloyd Sicard's third-straight title in the 110-meter hurdles. Sicard also teamed up with Paul Resong, Brandon Howard and Isaiah Jewett to win the 4x400, while Jewett added an individual victory in the 800m. Howard (400H), Matt Seawright (Hammer) and the 4x100 (Evan Singletary, Sicard, Howard, Jordan Gibson) all contributed runner-up finishes. Seawright also earned a third-place showing in the discus.
BRANDON HOWARD // 400m Hurdles // Senior // San Diego, Calif.
• Qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Championships in the 400m hurdles for the second year in a row
• Ranks 32nd in the West Region with a career-best 51.61 coming at the adidas/Steve Scott Invitational on April 29
• That mark is tops in the Big West this season and puts him at No. 5 in school history
• Big West runner-up at 52.56; Also earned all-conference honors in the 4x100 (2nd) and 4x400 (1st)
• Finished 31st at the 2016 NCAA West Prelims
ISAIAH JEWETT // 800m // Sophomore // Inglewood, Calif.
• Advanced to the NCAA postseason in his first year running the 800m and enters the regional meet seeded 14th
• Established a personal-record 1:48.22 at the Steve Scott Invite where he beat out UCI alum Charles Jock
• Won the 800m at the conference meet making him the Anteaters' first champion in that event since Jock in 2012
• Also ran the anchor leg on the 4x400 that claimed the conference title in a season-best 3:09.19
• Went unbeaten in five 800m finals races as his only non-victory came in the Big West prelims where he was third
• Ranks third in program history behind Charles Jock and Steve Scott, who were both Olympians and All-Americans
• Claimed four Big West Track Athlete of the Week awards in 2017
• Competed in the 400m as a true freshman last year
MATT SEAWRIGHT // Hammer & Discus // Senior // Long Beach, Calif.
• Two-event qualifier at the NCAA West Prelims for the second year in a row
• Ranks 19th in the West Region in the hammer (210-11) and 25th in the discus (180-07)
• His top marks came at the Big West Championships where he earned all-conference honors in both events
• Posted seven top-10 performances in the hammer with an individual victory at the Mondo Team Challenge on April 1
• Added five top-10 finishes in the discus with a season-best third-place showing at the Big West Championships
• Sits at No. 3 in school history in the hammer (210-11) and No. 4 in the discus (183-04)
LLOYD SICARD // 110m Hurdles // Senior // Gardena, Calif.
• Making his fourth-straight appearance at the NCAA West Preliminary Championships
• Seeded fourth with a wind-aided lifetime-best 13.55, which he ran at the Steve Scott Invitational on April 29
• Advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last two years
• Finished second at the regional meet in 2015 and third in 2016
• Won his third consecutive Big West title in the 110H with a wind-legal season-best 13.61
• That was just .01 seconds off the meet record and his own school record
• Also earned all-conference honors as a member of the first-place 4x400 and second-place 4x100
• Finished first or second in eight of nine 110H races with six individual victories this season
• Competed at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 110m hurdles
4x400 RELAY // Lloyd Sicard, Paul Resong, Brandon Howard, Isaiah Jewett
• Claimed UC Irvine's first 4x400 Big West title since 2012 with a season-best 3:09.19
• Sicard, Resong, Howard and Jewett shaved over a second off their previous best of 3:10.79
• The Anteaters' conference-winning time got them into the NCAA postseason as the No. 23 seed in the West Region
• The quartet won their last five races and finished no lower than third this season
UP NEXT: The top-12 finishers in each event will advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 7-10.
