Five Individuals and a Relay Qualify for Postseason

Five Individuals and a Relay Qualify for Postseason

5/16/2019 4:05:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country

The RedHawks will have representation in six events at next week’s meet.

OXFORD, Ohio – Nine Miami University track and field across six events will represent the Red & White at next week's NCAA East Region Preliminary in Jacksonville, Fla. The competition is hosted by North Florida and runs May 23-25.

Continuing their seasons as individuals on the men's side are Sean Torpy (800m and 1500m), Christopher Torpy (1500m) and Kenny Glenn (long jump). The women's team is sending Olivia Bechtel (400m) and Danielle Collier (javelin). Bechtel will also team with Kalliopi Kountouri, Emily Hooker and Sarah Bruns in the 4x400m relay. Faith Baxter will also join the 4x400m group in Florida. This group combined to win seven MAC titles last week.

Named the Most Valuable Performer at last week's MAC Outdoor Championships, Sean Torpy won MAC titles in the 800m, 1500m and 5000m. He is seeded 12th in both the 800m and 1500m in this qualifying meet. His top 2019 outdoor 800m of 1:48.53 won him the event at last week's conference meet while his best 1500m performance of 3:44.24 came at the Virginia Challenge in late April. This is Torpy's second-straight postseason appearance in the NCAA East Region Preliminary as he finished 18th in the 1500m at last year's competition.

Sean's twin Christopher is also running in the 1500m for the second-straight year in the preliminary meet as his top time of 3:44.52 at the Virginia Challenge has him seeded 17th. He is gunning for his second-straight trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships as he finished 11th at this competition a year ago and eventually placed 23rd at the national meet.

Glenn is hoping his third trip to the preliminary meet to be the charm as he looks to punch his ticket to nationals for the first time. Glenn was runner-up in the long jump at the MAC Outdoor Championships last weekend. A week earlier, he broke his own school record in the event with a leap of 25-7 1/4, a mark that has him seeded 12th entering this competition.

The highest-seeded RedHawk in the competition, Collier returns to the NCAA East Region Preliminary coming off her MAC title in the javelin last weekend. She set a new personal best in the event early on during the outdoor campaign when she marked 175-3 at the Texas Relays. That performance has her seeded sixth in the competition as she looks for her second nationals trip, with her first coming in 2017.

Bechtel was tabbed the Most Outstanding Track Performer in the women's MAC meet thanks to winning her first individual title in the 400m with a personal-best and school-record time of 52.85. She also picked up a third-place finish in the 200m and anchored the 4x400m relay to their second-straight MAC crown. She enters her first NCAA preliminary meet seeded 15th in the 400m.

MU's 4x400m relay team slid into the field as a veteran unit that qualified at the Penn Relays back in April. Their qualifying time was a school-record 3:38.29 and as such they are seeded 24th in this competition.

The top 12 finishers in each event at this meet continue their postseasons at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas from June 5-8.