NCAA Qualifiers

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine men's track & field will send six student-athletes to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the NCAA West First Round, May 22-25.
 
Junior Jacob Hawkins and senior Justin Willingham are both double qualifiers in the shot put and discus. Hawkins is seeded 13th in the discus. He broke a 41-year-old school record in the event with a personal-best 59.03 meters (193-8) at the Challenge Cup on March 15. He was just shy of that mark last weekend when he took home the Big West title with a toss of 58.94m (193-4). In the shot put, Hawkins registered a lifetime-best and NCAA qualifying mark of 17.90m (58-8.75) at the conference meet.
 
Willingham is seeded 14th in the shot put. The Big West champion won the conference title with his qualifying mark of 18.74 meters (61-5.75). That is a personal and school record, marking the fourth time this season he set the program standard. Willingham also qualified for the regional meet in the discus where he established a lifetime-best 54.87m (180-0) at the Triton Invitational on April 6.
 
Junior Liam Miksic is headed to the NCAA West First Round for the third-straight year. Miksic is seeded 37th in the javelin with a personal-best 65.85m (216-0), which ranks third in school history. The two-time Big West champion set his PR at the Beach Opener on March 1.
 
Junior Logan Peyton is also seeded 35th in the javelin. Peyton passed Miksic for second on UCI's all-time charts with a lifetime-best 65.93m (216-4) at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 18. Peyton is in his first season with the Anteaters after earning NCAA Division II All-America honors at Azusa Pacific in 2023.
 
Senior Drew Pickett qualified for the 110-meter hurdles with a wind-aided personal-record 13.90, which he ran in the Big West Championship prelims last weekend. At the Steve Scott Invitational (April 27), Pickett clocked a wind-legal 13.91 to move into a tie for third in program history.
 
Sophomore Kenechukwu Okonkwo qualified in the triple jump where he notched a lifetime-best and NCAA qualifying mark of 15.33 meters (50-3.5) at the Steve Scott Invitational on April 27. Okonkwo's PR ranks third among UC Irvine's all-time leaders.
 
The top-12 finishers at next week's regional meet will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, June 5-8.
 
Senior Josh Farmer has already qualified for his third NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships as one of the top-24 decathletes in the nation. Earlier this season, Farmer established a personal-record and NCAA qualifying score of 7,703 points at the Bryan Clay Invitational. He will be making his return to the national stage after redshirting the 2023 season. Farmer is a two-time second-team All-American, finishing 14th in 2022 and 16th in 2021.