The first day of the 2011 NCAA Track & Field Championships saw two Big West runners advance to the national final of the 800 meter run. The national meet is being held at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

UC Irvine's Charles Jock and UC Santa Barbara's Ryan Martin each posted times worthy of advancement to the final. Running in the same heat, Jock won the sectional with a time of 1:45.77, while Martin was fourth in 1:46.29. Jock posted the top overall time in the 800 field, while Martin's effort was the fourth-best overall and the second-best time of all the competitors who did automatically qualify for the final.

The duo, which has clinched first team All-America honors by advancing to the final, will fight for the national championship with six other runners on Friday night.

Not to be outdone by the two 800 men's runners, Cal State Fullerton's Ciara Short also found her way into the final of an event, the 400-meter dash. Short, the two-time Big West Track Athlete of the Year, finished second in her heat and had the fifth-best time in the field at 51.85. The time was a personal best in the event and broke her own school record by nearly a half a second. With first team All-American honors wrapped up, Short will go for the national crown Friday night.

The league had four other athletes in action Wednesday, three in an individual event and one multi-athlete.

Colin Dunbar, the 2011 Big West Field Athlete of the Year, competed in the first of his two events at the 2011 Nationals. Dunbar finished in 21st with a toss of 171-03 (52.20m).

The UC Davis duo of Thomas Phillips and Alex Wilright competed in the 400 hurdles, but were unable to qualify for the finals. Phillips finished 13th overall with a time of 50.86, while Wilright was 15th overall at 51.08.

The league's decathlon champion is also in competition as Long Beach State's Nicholas Armstrong finished day one with 3,881 points, good for 17th place.