Rams’ Bedard, Hassan, Rockhold advance to nationals on final day of NCAA West Preliminary

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Kelcey Bedard, Mostafa Hassan and Cole Rockhold of the Colorado State track & field team capped off the Rams' weekend at the NCAA West Preliminary with respective NCAA Outdoor Championships-qualifying performances from Hornet Stadium on Saturday.

In order to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in any individual event, athletes must place in the top 12 in their respective events. For the preliminary round, each of the West and East regions featured a 48-athlete field (96 total).

Despite missing nearly the entire outdoor season due to injury, Hassan will make his sixth NCAA Championships appearance following his two most recent performances. The two-time NCAA indoor champion placed fifth in the shot put on Saturday, notching his best throw of 64-6.5 (19.76m) on his third and final attempt of the day. The Cairo, Egypt native qualified for this weekend's meet with a Mountain West title-winning throw of 61-5 (18.72m) in his return from injury two weeks earlier.

Rockhold was the Rams' next-highest finisher in any event at the NCAA West Preliminary, taking second place in his heat and seventh overall in the 5,000 meters to advance to nationals in the event for the second consecutive season. The junior's time on Saturday was 13:49.82. Carson Hume (14:04.83) finished 27th in the 5,000 meters, while Wayde Hall (14:46.04) placed 45th in the event.

Bedard will make her first NCAA Championships appearance after finishing 10th in the women's hammer on Saturday. The junior from Fort Collins, Colo., had her best mark on her first attempt, clinching her berth to the national meet with a mark of 203-0 (61.88m).

Linnea Jonsson finished just shy of a bid to Eugene, Ore., placing 16th in the women's hammer with a mark of 200-1 (60.98m). Aimee Larrabee was the third Ram to finish in the upper half of Saturday's hammer competition, finishing 22nd overall with a mark of 195-6 (59.59m). Rounding out performances by Rams in the throws was Austin Blaho's 45th-place finish and shot put mark of 54-7.25 (16.64m).

In other track events, Colorado State's women's 4x100-meter relay team of Jasmine Chesson, Destinee Rocker, Marybeth Sant and Lettia Wilson finished 21st overall with a time of 45.71, while Roxy Trotter finished 24th in the women's 1,500 meters (4:35.01). In other field events, sophomore Trenton Wallace made his second NCAA West Preliminary high jump appearance, placing 34th overall. The Texan's mark was 6-9 (2.06m).

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Brian Bedard
On performances by Kelcey Bedard and Mostafa Hassan:
"For Mostafa, I thought that he was very composed and did exactly what he needed to do today. I think he set himself up pretty well heading in to the NCAA Championships, and looks much more technically sound. He's healthy and I feel pretty good about where he's at and the direction he's headed in. It was another big step from the conference meet. For Kelcey, she had a really nice throw on her first attempt and was good in warm-ups - she did a good job of getting prepared to compete today. It was obviously one of her goals to reach the NCAA Championships, and I don't know if it's sunk in yet today for either me or her."

Colorado State distance coach Art Siemers
On Cole Rockhold:
"In championship races, things can go a lot of ways. The whole strategy regardless of how fast the race went or didn't go was to stay out of trouble and to try to stay up front so that you can make a move when the best guys make a move. Cole did a great job of that and matched them when the pace picked up. I think (Utah State's) Dillon (Maggard) may have had a little chip on his shoulder from conference and was the first one to take off and may have gotten the jump on Cole. This is about qualifying, though, not winning your heat, and Cole closed the fastest over the final 400 meters. It's a step in the right direction heading to NCAA finals."

NOTES
- Kelcey Bedard, Mostafa Hassan and Cole Rockhold join Grant Fischer in qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Fischer qualified on Thursday. That puts the Rams in position for as four All-America honors, which would be the program's eighth-most in a single season.
- Each of Fischer, Hassan and Rockhold also qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships this year.

UP NEXT
The Colorado State track & field team will be off from competition before returning to action at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships from June 6-9 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

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