Moon Township, Pa. – Fifth-year
Yessie Valencia of the RMU track & field team has qualified for the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field East Preliminary Round in the discus. Valencia, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., will compete in the event Saturday, May 28, at the Haugh Track & Field Complex in Bloomington, Ind., on the campus of Indiana University.
Valencia qualified for the preliminaries thanks to her personal best toss of
50.73 meters (166'5") at the 2022 Horizon League Outdoor Track & Field Championships. That mark, which ranks second in the RMU outdoor track & field record book, established a new #HLTF Outdoor Championships records in the event.
Student-athletes who rank among the top 48 in their respective event earn a berth in the NCAA East Preliminary Round. In addition, the best 24 relay teams advance to the NCAA preliminaries. Student-athletes with the top 12 times or marks and the 12 best relay teams at both the East and West Preliminary Rounds will qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, June 8-11, 2022, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
RELATED: 2022 NCAA East Preliminary Round Schedule of Events
During the 2022 outdoor season, Valencia earned individual titles in the discus a total of seven times. She opened the campaign by extending her own
Gesling Stadium record in the event to claim gold at the Carnegie Mellon Invitational (3/25) with a toss of 49.97 meters (163'11"). For those efforts, Valencia was tabbed the
Horizon League Field Athlete of the Week (3/29). Valencia also earned individual championships in the discus at the
Mountaineer Classic (4/2), the
George Mason Invitational (4/9), the
Carnegie Mellon Last Chance Meet (4/15), the
Benson/Hodge Memorial Invitational (4/23) at the P3R Track & Field Complex at the RMU Island Sports Center and the
Marty Goldberg Invitational (5/12) on the campus of Allegheny College.
Valencia is the first RMU student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA East Preliminaries since Rachel Boody (2012-17), who finished 16th in the discus in Lexington, Ky., during the 2017 outdoor season. Boody established the RMU program record in the event at the 2017 NCAA East Prelims thanks to a toss of 51.60 meters (169'3").
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | RMU Athletics Gameday App
