FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Junior Liam Miksic broke the school record in the javelin to highlight the first day of the NCAA West First Round for the UC Irvine men's track & field team Wednesday at John McDonnell Field.
 
Miksic had an impressive series, throwing for over 64 meters on all three of his attempts. He hit his personal and school-record 68.34m (224-2) in the second round. The Big West champion was the best in Flight 1 and 14th overall as he was just two spots shy of qualifying for nationals. It was a career-best NCAA showing for Miksic, who entered his third regional appearance ranked 37th in the field of 48.
 
Junior Logan Peyton also competed in his first NCAA Division I regional meet, finishing with a best of 53.97m (177-0).
 
In the shot put, senior Justin Willingham got out to a strong start, opening with a toss of 18.21m (59-9), but was unable to make an improvement on his next two attempts. He closed out the competition in 18th place. Willingham had a decorated season in the shot put where he broke the school record four times. He last accomplished the feat at the Big West Championships where he won the conference title with a lifetime-best 18.74m (61-5.75).
 
Junior Jacob Hawkins was also 31st in the shot put at 17.51m (57-5.5).
 
On the track, senior Drew Pickett made his NCAA debut in the 110m hurdles, clocking in at 14.17 seconds. He was 38th, beating out his ranking by eight spots.
 
Both Hawkins and Willingham will be back in action in the discus on Friday, May 24, starting at 1 p.m. (CT)/11 a.m. (PT), while Kenechukwu Okonkwo is set to compete in the triple jump at 6 p.m. (CT)/4 p.m. (PT).