The first day of the NCAA West Region track & field meet saw plenty of stellar performances from Big West athletes as five of them advanced to the NCAA Championships. The regional is being held at Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas.

UC Santa Barbara's Kayla Smith was the first athlete to qualify for nationals as she finished 11th in the shot put with an effort of 15.66 meters (51-04.50).

Long Beach State's star women's javelin throwers both made it into the NCAA field as Alex Shaw finished ninth at 49.54 meters (162-06), while her teammate Randi Hicks was right behind her in 10th at 49.35 meters (161-11).

Cal State Northridge's Reindell Cole advanced to the NCAA Championships for the third consecutive year after finishing third in the long jump at 7.90 meters (25-11).

The lone track event Thursday to advance runners directly to Eugene for nationals was the 10,000-meter run, and the league picked up a qualifier in the women's event. UC Santa Barbara's Danielle Domenichelli finished with the third-best time in the race at 34:26.11, just under three seconds behind the overall winner.

In other track races, a number of athletes advanced to the national quarterfinal round of their respective races.

The first running event of the day was the men's 400 hurdles and a pair of Long Beach State athletes advanced to the next round. Kenneth Medwood earned his spot with the 11th-best time among the automatic qualifiers at 51.17, while Jeter will join him in the next round after clocking a 51.13, the fastest time among the competitors who did not finish in the top three of their respective heats.

The next event which saw a conference athlete advanced to the national quarterfinal round was the 1500 meter run. UC Riverside's Brenda Martinez finished sixth among the automatic qualifiers with a time of 4:23.20. The top five from each quarterfinal race as well as the next two best times will head off to Eugene for a chance at the national title.

Two more Big West athletes punched tickets to the quarters after the women's 400 was held. Cal State Fullerton's Ciara Short continued her amazing season with the third-best time in the field at 52.36, an effort that won her heat. Shelese Ruffin of Cal State Northridge also gained automatic entry with the 13th-best time among auto qualifiers at 53.45.

Three Big West men's 800 competitors will be in the national quarterfinals of the event as UC Santa Barbara's Ryan Martin, UC Irvine's Charles Jock and Long Beach State's Alex Freitas. Martin had the best time of the trio at 1:49.51, good for 10th in the field. Jock also moved ahead in the field after posting a time of 1:50.11, the second-best effort in his heat. Freitas was one of the top qualifers who didn't finish among the first three of his heat, gaining entry into the quarterfinal field with a time of 1:49.50.