The William & Mary women's track & field team will send three standouts to the NCAA Eastern Semifinals next weekend to begin their journeys towards All-American status.  The Tribe is sending multiple athletes to the first round of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the sixth-straight year, and the 26th time overall.

Among the qualifiers is redshirt-junior Grace Becker (Buckingham, Pa.), who is seeded 32nd in the high jump.  She cleared an outdoor-best 1.76m (5-9.25) for second at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships two weeks ago, and has finished in the top-3 at 13 of 14 competitions this year including six wins.  Indoors, Becker was second at the ECAC Championships and cleared 1.78m (5-10), a mark that would tie her for the school record outdoors with 1994 All-American Lisa Rayner '96.  In the high jump semifinals, the field of 48 competitors will be split between two pits, with the bar going up on each pad in the same increments and at the same time.  Competition will continue until only 12 athletes are left, and those 12 will advance to the NCAA Finals on Saturday, June 8.  Rayner remains the only W&M athlete to advance to the NCAA Finals in the high jump, placing 11th in 1994, while Elizabeth Simmons '85 made the 1982 AIAW Division II National Championships as well.  In the regional era, Bonnie Meekins '07 competed at the NCAA East Regional in 2003 and 2007, and Abby Jones '18 made the Eastern Semifinals back in 2017.

In the javelin, junior Sam Moravsky (Sherman, Conn.) also qualified for her first NCAA Championship, after throwing 45.44m (149-1) last month at George Mason.  Moravsky is seeded 46th overall, and will throw in the first of three sections.  This season, she has five podium finishes in eight competitions, including a win in the W&M Triangular.  Moravsky finished third at the Colonial Relays and second at the CAA Championships, and last week earned her first All-East honor with an eighth-place finish at the ECAC Championships.  In the javelin semifinals, each competitor has only three throws, and the top-12 marks will advance to the NCAA Finals on Thursday, June 6.  W&M has never had an athlete advance to the NCAA Finals in the javelin in three previous opportunities, as Brenna Blevins '08 made the NCAA East Regional in both 2005 and 2006 and Katie Johnston '16 made the Eastern Semifinals in 2014.

Last but certainly not least, freshman Chelsea Wallace (Chesapeake, Va.) is seeded 38th in the discus semifinals thanks to her school-record throw of 50.48m (165-7) for silver at the CAA Championships two weeks ago.  That was the second school record in a week for Wallace, who won the Penn Relays college discus the week before at 48.22m (158-2).  Wallace was also the runner-up at the Colonial Relays this season, and at the ECAC Championships last week for All-East honors.  She will throw in the first of three flights, like her teammate Moravsky, and will have three attempts to try and place among the top-12 to advance to the NCAA Finals on Saturday, June 8.  In school history, only Jeri Daniels '82 has made the national finals in the discus, earning All-American honors at the AIAW Division II National Championships in both 1981 and 1982.  In the regional era, Jen Showker '07 qualified for the NCAA East Regional in 2004 and Natalie Baird '13 qualified in 2009, the year before the current system was enacted.

The NCAA Eastern Preliminaries are next Thursday-Saturday, May 23-25, at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla.  The meet can be followed via live results on NCAA.com, and be streamed live on FloTrack Pro.

Thursday, May 23
12:00 PM - Javelin Semifinals - Sam Moravsky
3:30 PM - High Jump Semifinals - Grace Becker

Friday, May 24
12:00 PM - Discus Semifinals - Chelsea Wallace