COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- UC Davis junior pole vaulter Jered Española, sophomore sprinter Matthew Okonkwo and junior hurdler Anthony Easter each wrapped up their 2021 seasons during Wednesday's portion of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships West Preliminaries, hosted by Texas A&M at E.B. Cushing Stadium. Española finished 30th in the vault, Okonkwo was 42nd in the 400-meter dash, and Easter placed 43rd in the 400-meter hurdles.

This leaves Sarah Anderson as the last remaining Aggie in the championship meet. She will compete in Thursday's semifinal of the 10,000-meter run, held at 9:10 p.m. CDT (7:10 p.m. Pacific).

Española cleared each of the first three heights of 4.85 meters (15 feet, 11 inches), 5.00m (16-4.75) and 5.15m (16-10.75) on his first attempt before missing in the fourth round. The two-time Big West Conference champion finished in a three-way tie for 30th in the West prelims, along with Stanford's J.T. Herrscher and Washington's Chase Smith. The attempted height of 5.25m (17-2.75) would have surpassed Española's personal best of 5.22m, which ranks fifth in school history. The top 12 finishers each shared a successful vault of 5.45m (17-10.5) and will advance to the finals in Oregon.

Okonkwo raced in the third heat of the day, slipping to a time of 48.13 seconds for sixth place in his heat and 42nd overall among the first-round entrants. This marks the first time that the third-year psychology major has failed to break the 48-second barrier this season. Okonkwo set the school 400 record of 46.36 at the CSUN Red & Black Invite on April 3, then won two Big West titles, the Big West Male Track Athlete of the Meet and the Co-Male Track Athlete of the Year award earlier this month. A total of 24 runners – the top three from each of the six heats plus the next six times at large – moved on to Friday's quarterfinals.

Easter finished the day for the Aggies with his appearance in the fifth heat of the 400-meter hurdles first round. The 2019 NCAA qualifier barely missed his fifth sub-53 performance of the year, crossing in 53.01. That put him seventh in the heat and 43rd overall. Oddly, Easter's personal best of 51.36 in the event – set two years earlier at the NCAA meet in Sacramento – was precisely the cutoff for advancing to Friday's quarterfinal heats.

The NCAA Championships are streamed live on ESPN.com while links to live results, start lists, declarations and rankings from both the West and East regions can be found at D1Track.com.

NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS WEST PRELIMS, DAY 1
E.B. Cushing Stadium (Texas A&M)
Only events with UC Davis competitors are included. Winner/leader plus Aggies are listed.

MEN'S POLE VAULT FIRST ROUND - 1. Branson Ellis, Stephen F. Austin, 5.45m/17-10.5... t30. Jered Española, 5.15m/16-10.75.

MEN'S 400 METERS FIRST ROUND - 1. Jonathan Jones, Texas, 45.61... 42. Matthew Okonkwo, 48.13.

MEN'S 400 HURDLES FIRST ROUND - 1. Leonardo Ledgister, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 49.68... 43. Anthony Easter, 53.01.
 

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