Charlottesville, VA (cvillerightnow.com): Action is underway in Jacksonville for the NCAA East Preliminary round, at Hodges Stadium.  Day One of competition has concluded and already, two Virginia Cavaliers have punched their tickets to Eugene, Oregon later next month for the NCAA Outdoor Championships on the campus of the University of Oregon.   

First up was Annike Kelly, and in a season that saw her break the Virginia Program Record in the Women’s Hammer Throw two times already before Thursday, she did it again with a 64.94m/213-1 on her first throw of the day.  That mark was good for eighth place overall when competition concluded, and that meant Kelly would be headed to Eugene. 

The other qualifier yesterday was Jenny Schilling.  The 10,000m ACC Outdoor Champion ran her best time of the year with a 32:51.43.  That mark was the ninth best time in the field of 48 runners, and that will send Schilling to Eugene to make her debut in the NCAA Outdoor Championships.  This was Schilling’s first appearance in the NCAA East Regional in her career. 

Margot Appleton and Stella Kermes also advanced to the Women’s 1500m final with excellent runs in preliminaries, and they will be poised to punch their tickets to the Outdoor Championships in the finals on Saturday evening.