JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Five Western Carolina track & field student-athletes competed on the opening day of the 2015 NCAA East Preliminary Round. Senior Michaela Birek was the first to compete for the Catamounts on the track and she turned in the best performance of the day. Birek came up just 32 hundredths of a second short of qualifying for the NCAA quarterfinals in the 400m hurdles.

Birek ran the opening heat of the 400m hurdles and finished fourth which was one spot short of an automatic berth to the quarterfinals. She then had to wait out whether she would be one of the six next fastest runners out of the six heats. She ended up finishing 28th overall with a time of 59.51 which was .32 short of the final qualifying spot of 59.19.

Sophomore Hailey Cook was next to finish as she competed in the women's shot put. Cook finished 47th overall with a toss of 13.01m (42-08.25).

Junior Tayla Carter, who is a three-time NCAA East Preliminary qualifier, ran the first of two events that she qualified for this season. Carter finished seventh in her heat and 31st overall in the 100m with a time of 11.79.

Freshman Brenden Caldwell was the first male to compete for the Catamounts as he finished seventh in his heat and 39th overall with a time of 10.73 in the 100m.

Freshman Henry Kiedy closed out the day with a 46th overall finish in the 400m. He posted a time of 48.49.

Senior Xaviera Bass (100m hurdles), senior Abraham Faison (110m hurdles), junior Tayla Carter (200m) and senior Alisha Bradshaw (discus) will all be in action tomorrow, May 29, at the 2015 NCAA East Preliminary.