Roy, Ndudi And O'Neill Lead Irish Charge To NCAA Championships After Regional Weekend

Five Irish athletes have secured their places at the NCAA Championships following a dramatic week of competition at the NCAA East and West Regional Preliminary Rounds.

Elizabeth Ndudi, Lauren Roy and Maeve O'Neill all booked their places at the national championships as individual qualifiers, while Sean Aigboboh and Lucy May Sleeman also progressed as members of relay teams.

The regional rounds represent one of the toughest qualification hurdles in collegiate athletics. Only the top twelve athletes or teams in each event advance to the NCAA Championships, meaning even a strong performance can leave athletes narrowly on the wrong side of the cut.

Roy Secures Commonwealth Games Qualification & Punches 200m Ticket

Some huge sprinting performances came from Lauren Roy of Tarleton State University.

Roy produced a lifetime best of 11.23 seconds in the 100m heats, finishing 13th overall. Although she narrowly missed progression in that event, the performance delivered both a Commonwealth Games qualifying standard and the Athletics Ireland B standard for the European Athletics Championships.

The Ulster sprinter was not finished there.

Roy returned to run 22.97 in the 200m heats before improving again to 22.83 in the semi finals. Her performance was enough to secure qualification for the NCAA Championships and also achieve the automatic qualifying standard for the European Athletics Championships.

Ndudi Safely Through In Long Jump

Elizabeth Ndudi continued her impressive season by securing qualification for the NCAA Championships in the women's long jump.

Competing for the University of Illinois, Ndudi finished 10th with a best leap of 6.36m to comfortably book her place among the nation's top collegiate athletes.

The former Euro Under 20 champion has steadily built momentum throughout the outdoor season, breaking the 16 years old indoor national record (STR) and will now have the opportunity to compete for national honours later this month.

O'Neill Caps Outstanding Season With Nationals Qualification

Providence College athlete Maeve O'Neill continued her excellent season by securing qualification for the NCAA Championships in the women's 800m.

O'Neill finished 3rd in her preliminary race in 2:02.66 before returning to clock 2:00.72 in the semi final, placing 7th overall and comfortably inside the top twelve required for progression.

The result is the latest success in a breakthrough year for the Irish middle distance athlete. O'Neill won the Big East 800m title during the indoor season, broke the Irish indoor 800m record and earned her first senior Irish international selection at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. She has carried that form into the outdoor campaign, recently adding another conference 800m title to her growing list of achievements.

O'Neill will now head to the NCAA Championships full of confidence after one of the strongest seasons of her career.

Relay Success For Aigboboh And Sleeman

Sean Aigboboh will also head to nationals after helping the University of Houston's men's 4x100m relay team secure qualification.

Houston finished 4th in 38.86 seconds to safely advance. Individually, Aigboboh placed 37th in the 100m before reaching the semi finals of the 200m, eventually finishing 16th overall.

Lucy May Sleeman also celebrated qualification after helping Florida State University finish 6th in the women's 4x100m relay in 42.96 seconds.

The  sprinter also enjoyed success in the individual 100m, producing a personal best of 11.26 in the semi finals. That performance earned her the Athletics Ireland B standard for the European Athletics Championships.

So Close For Quinn

Among the near misses, Siún Quinn perhaps came closest to joining the national qualifiers.

Representing the University of Illinois in the women's high jump, Quinn cleared 1.84m to finish 14th overall, just two places outside the qualification positions.

The result capped an excellent freshman season that has already seen Quinn achieve international standards and establish herself among the leading young Irish jumpers competing in the NCAA system.

Narrow Misses Across The Board

There were several other strong performances that fell just short of qualification.

Anna Gardiner of Providence College finished 15th in the women's 5000m in 15:55.21, missing progression by only three places.

David Davitt and the University of Pennsylvania men's 4x400m relay team were also left wondering what might have been after finishing 13th in 3:03.66, just one place outside the qualifying positions.

Roisin Treacy finished 17th in the women's 3000m steeplechase for Loyola Chicago, while Ailish Hawkins placed 19th in the same event representing UCLA.

Anika Thompson recorded a strong 20th place finish in the women's 10,000m for Oregon, while Liam Lyons led the Irish contingent in the men's 1500m with a time of 3:44.85 for Holy Cross.

Elsewhere, Mark Milner ran 3:44.65 in the men's 1500m, Dean Casey and Shay McEvoy competed in the men's 10,000m, Oisín Spillane lined up in the men's steeplechase, and Nicole Dinan, Cara Laverty, Seán Donoghue, Seán Cronin and Cormac Dixon all flew the Irish flag in highly competitive middle distance events.

With five Irish athletes now through to the NCAA Championships and several others producing career bests, qualifying standards and near misses, the regional rounds once again highlighted the growing strength of Irish athletics within the American collegiate system.

Full Irish Athletes Results Roundup

NCAA West Regional Preliminary Round

• Mark Milner (University of Portland) – Men's 1500m – 3:44.65
• Sean Aigboboh (University of Houston) – Men's 100m – 37th – 10.41
• Sean Aigboboh (University of Houston) – Men's 200m – 16th overall – 20.65 (Prelims), 20.72 (Semi Final)
• Sean Aigboboh (University of Houston) – Men's 4x100m Relay – 4th – 38.86 (Qualified For NCAA Championships)
• Dean Casey (University of Colorado) – Men's 10,000m – 37th – 29:46.46
• Shay McEvoy (University of Oregon) – Men's 10,000m – 26th – 29:25.22
• Elizabeth Ndudi (University of Illinois) – Women's Long Jump – 10th – 6.36m (Qualified For NCAA Championships)
• Lauren Roy (Tarleton State University) – Women's 100m – 13th in prelims – 11.23 PB
• Lauren Roy (Tarleton State University) – Women's 200m – 11th overall – 22.97 (Prelims), 22.83 (Semi Final) (Qualified For NCAA Championships)
• Victoria Amiadamen (Texas State University) – Women's 400m Hurdles – 22nd – 1:16.45
• Anika Thompson (University of Oregon) – Women's 10,000m – 20th – 33:38.96
• James Ezeonu (Kansas State) – Men's 4x100m Relay – 21st – 39.88
• Oisín Spillane (Saint Mary's College California) – Men's 3000m Steeplechase – 44th – 9:08.03
• Siún Quinn (University of Illinois) – Women's High Jump – 14th – 1.84m
• Ailish Hawkins (UCLA) – Women's 3000m Steeplechase – 19th – 10:28.05
• Roisin Treacy (Loyola University Chicago) – Women's 3000m Steeplechase – 17th – 10:21.48

NCAA East Regional Preliminary Round

• Seán Donoghue (Villanova University) – Men's 1500m – 37th – 3:50.65
• Seán Cronin (La Salle University) – Men's 1500m – 39th – 3:51.06
• Cormac Dixon (Providence College) – Men's 1500m – 38th – 3:50.70
• Liam Lyons (Holy Cross) – Men's 1500m – 36th – 3:44.85
• Nicole Dinan (Florida State University) – Women's 1500m – 33rd – 4:19.60
• Cara Laverty (Providence College) – Women's 1500m – 37th – 4:21.18
• Lucy May Sleeman (Florida State University) – Women's 100m – 20th overall – 11.35 (Prelims), 11.26 PB (Semi Final)
• Lucy May Sleeman (Florida State University) – Women's 4x100m Relay – 6th – 42.96 (Qualified For NCAA Championships)
• Maeve O'Neill (Providence College) – Women's 800m – 7th overall – 2:02.66 (Prelims), 2:00.72 (Semi Final) (Qualified For NCAA Championships)
• Anna Gardiner (Providence College) – Women's 5000m – 15th – 15:55.21
• Grace Weigele (Stony Brook University) – Women's 5000m – 45th – 16:46.56
• David Davitt (University of Pennsylvania) – Men's 4x400m Relay – 13th – 3:03.66