Gators qualify two for finals, another twelve for quarterfinals after day one of NCAA East Prelims

The first day of the NCAA East Prelims saw two Gators qualify directly to the NCAA Outdoor Championships finals and another twelve advance to the quarterfinals of their respective event in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Prelims. It was indeed a great day on the track for the Gators, but it was especially great for Florence Ngetich and Lorraine Graham.

Ngetich qualified for the NCAA's in the 10,000m run with a personal best time of 33:28.10s. That time was good enough for fourth place at the prelims yesterday and will allow her every opportunity for a National Championship come early June. Graham on the other hand finished fifth in the long jump but her height of 6.17m was good enough to send her to NCAA's as well.

Some of the Gators who advanced to today's and Saturday's quarterfinals were: Darshay Davis (100m), Cory McGee and Agata Strausa (1,500m), Sean Obinwa (800m), Arman Hall, Hugh Graham Jr. and Najee Glass (400m). There were of course others, so it will be interesting to see how many of them actually qualify for the NCAA Championships.

The action begins today for the Gators at 10:00 a.m. ET with Jayla Bostic and the women's hammer throw. Also among the Gators in action today are Eddie Lovett (110m hurdles) and Dedric Dukes (200m) so today is the day that things begin to get really exciting.

You can follow all the action online and up-to-the-second courtesy of Flash Results, who are once again the official timekeeper of the NCAA Championships. On Flash Results' website, you can also find the performance lists (in PDF form). As it always is at this time of the year, championship central is located at NCAA.com.