AUSTIN, Texas - Senior Lloyd Sicard led the UC Irvine men's track & field team on the final day of the NCAA West Preliminary Championships as he earned his third-straight berth to nationals with a fourth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles Saturday evening at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

The top-three in each of the three quarterfinal heats plus the next three-fastest times punched their tickets to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in two weeks.

The Gardena, Calif., native matched his own school record at 13.60 to claim one of the automatic bids in his section where he took second. Overall, he had the fourth-best qualifying time. Sicard, who also clocked in at 13.61 in Friday's first round, had two of his top three races of the campaign this weekend. Back in April, he ran a wind-aided personal-record 13.55.

"All glory to God, this is his doing not mine," Sicard said. "I'm just here to represent him and glorify him by using this gift he gave me to run. None of this is possible without the man above. I'm excited about the opportunity to compete at NCAA's once again and show that I can be an All-American."

Sicard is a three-time Big West champion, and is now set for his third consecutive trip to TrackTown USA. In each of the previous two years, he placed 17th at the NCAA Championships. 

Two hours after his 110H race, Sicard returned to the track to run the first leg of the 4x400 relay. He teamed up with sophomore Paul Resong, senior Brandon Howard and sophomore Isaiah Jewett to register their second-best time of the year at 3:10.00. The 'Eaters were 20th overall, beating their ranking coming into the meet by three spots. The quartet closed out the season with five victories, including a Big West title. They were making UCI's first regional appearance in the 4x400 since 2012.

Senior Matt Seawright also capped off an impressive two-year career at UC Irvine with a 39th-place finish in the discus (168-04). He will leave the program ranked among the top-10 in three events with lifetime bests of 210-11 in the hammer (3rd), 183-04 in the discus (4th) and 54-06 in the shot put (8th). Seawright is a three-time All-Big West performer and two-time NCAA West Preliminary qualifier in both the hammer and discus.
 

Sicard (110H) and Jewett (800m) will continue their seasons in two weeks when they head to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, June 7-10.

 

NCAA WEST PRELIMINARY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mike A. Myers Stadium - Austin, Texas
Day 3 Results - May 27, 2017

110m Hurdles - Quarterfinal Round
4. Lloyd Sicard (13.60)*

4x400 Relay - Quarterfinal Round
20. Sicard, Paul Resong, Brandon Howard, Isaiah Jewett (3:10.00)

Discus
39. Matt Seawright (168-04)
 

* Qualifies for NCAA Championships