photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas' Jacob Cookinham prepares to throw the shot put at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Rock Chalk Park on Friday, May 16, 2025.

Having earned the opportunity to compete by recording some of the top marks in the nation over the course of the 2025 outdoor season, a variety of Kansas athletes will get the chance to earn spots in the national championship.

Top competitors like senior men’s discus thrower Dimitrios Pavlidis and sophomore women’s pole vaulter Mason Meinershagen will get their latest chance to reach the national stage if they can perform well in the NCAA West Preliminary, which begins on Wednesday in College Station, Texas, and continues through Saturday night. The event will be televised on ESPN+.

Pavlidis, Meinershagen, men’s pole vaulter Clayton Simms and women’s 800 meters competitor Aaliyah Moore are all looking to make return trips to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, which begin in two weeks, while a host of additional Jayhawks are looking to make their first-ever trips to the event.

The first KU competitors to get going in College Station will be several of the men’s field athletes. The top 12 finishers in these events will advance to Eugene.

Most notably, the KU men’s pole vault squad will take center stage at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. This is the only event in which the Jayhawks have five athletes competing, and junior Ashton Barkdull, who won the Big 12 title in Lawrence by clearing 5.61 meters, sports a No. 4 ranking that equals the highest of any Jayhawk.

He is joined by his brother Bryce Barkdull, with a seed of 5.51, and three teammates at 5.41 in Brady Koolen, Anthony Meacham and Simms, all of whom posted their season-best marks at the Big 12 Championship. Of note, Simms was last year’s national runner-up but has battled injury this season.

Next at 6 p.m. is the men’s shot put, featuring two-sport junior Bryce Foster, who narrowly missed out on national qualification last season when he was still at Texas A&M, and freshman Jacob Cookinham. Cookinham is the higher seed at No. 16 after his fifth-place finish in Big 12 competition.

Sophomore Paul Ngasharr and junior Tanner Talley, who finished less than a second apart at the Big 12 Championship in the men’s 1,500 meters, will be up at 6:30 p.m. Each needs to either finish in the top five in his 12-man heat or earn one of the four best remaining times as 24 athletes advance overall.

Later, at 7:50, TJ Robinson will battle for a spot in the men’s 800 meters by reaching the top three in his nine-man heat or earning one of the other six best remaining times. He does have the third-best seed in his heat with his time of one minute, 47.37 seconds.

The women’s competition starts on Thursday. Once again, the first Jayhawks in action will be the pole vaulters at 5:30 p.m.

KU runs four deep in this event with seventh-seeded Meinershagen, No. 9 Erica Ellis, No. 22 Gabby Hoke and No. 58 Madison Snody. Last year, Meinershagen was the only freshman Jayhawk who made it to nationals. This season she reset a program record by clearing 4.51 meters.

Sophomore Emmaculate Jemutai has been on a tear in the women’s 1,500 meters (6:30 p.m. Thursday), and her time of 4:08.60, which set school and meet records at the Big 12 Championship, is No. 12 in the country, as well as the second-best mark in her heat, in which she can make the top five to advance.

At 7:25 p.m., it will be Pearl Awanya’s turn in the 400 meters, where she ranks No. 42 and, like Robinson, will aim for the top three in a nine-person heat.

The busy Thursday evening for KU continues at 7:50 with Moore, a senior from Guyana looking to make it back to nationals but entering this year at No. 87 in the 800 meters.

Then, at 8:20 p.m., a contingent of three Jayhawks will battle it out in various heats of the women’s 400-meter hurdles. Sophomore Sidney Smith made noise earlier in the year with a string of victories, but she’s ranked 87th at 58.76 and it’s actually her classmate Aleksandra Wolczak who enters with a better seed, 57th at 58.01. Senior Addison Brooks enters ranked just behind Smith at 89th with a time of 58.81.

Friday’s action for KU consists solely of the men’s discus at 1 p.m. Pavlidis, a bronze medalist at the national meet last season, currently ranks No. 4, having recorded a throw of 63.86 meters at the Jayhawk Spring Fling in March. Teammate Joseph Kieny has a tougher road to the top 12 as the No. 75 seed.

The Jayhawks also have a strong duo in the women’s discus, set for 1 p.m. on Saturday. Junior Sofia Sluchaninova is seventh in the nation with her mark of 60.21 meters from the Rock Chalk Classic in April. Freshman Madeleine Fey is No. 29 at 55.88, which she recorded at the Spring Fling.

Another freshman will get her chance to shine shortly afterward as Kori Randle competes in the women’s triple jump at 2:30 p.m. She comes in at No. 33 after posting a mark of 13.11 meters in Big 12 play, which she will likely need to exceed to reach the top 12.

Meinershagen will compete in her second event, the high jump, at 3:30 p.m. She is seeded No. 52 there with a mark of 1.78 meters.

Another Jayhawk rookie, Ebba Cronholm, has started her career strong and will look to continue her momentum from a third-place finish at the Big 12 Championship. She enters with a time of 10:00.55 at a No. 24 ranking.

The final event of the preliminary round is the 4×400-meter relay at 8:45 p.m. Saturday. KU comes in at No. 101 at 3:36.98 and will need to make the top three in its nine-team heat or clinch one of the three best remaining times with some combination of Smith, Deshana Skeete, Awanya, Moore, Brooks, Brooke Freeman and Wolczak.

A pair of veteran Jayhawks in the field of combined events have already earned their spots in Eugene. Senior Alexander Jung (No. 15) and junior Tayton Klein (No. 23) squeezed their way into the top 24 overall performers and will get another chance at championship glory. Last year, Klein finished 14th at nationals and Jung 23rd.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

KU’s Erica Ellis competes in the women’s pole vault during the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence on Friday, May 16, 2025.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

KU freshman Madison Snody clears the bar while competing in the women’s pole vault during the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence on Friday, May 16, 2025.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

KU sophomore Mason Meinershagen competes in the women’s pole vault during the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday, May 16, 2025, at Rock Chalk Park.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

KU redshirt senior Gabby Hoke competes in the women’s pole vault during the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence on Friday, May 16, 2025.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas’ Tayton Klein is acknowledged on the podium at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Rock Chalk Park on Friday, May 16, 2025.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas’ Pearl Awanya competes in the 400 meters at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Rock Chalk Park on Friday, May 16, 2025.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas’ Aaliyah Moore runs the 800 meters at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Rock Chalk Park on Friday, May 16, 2025.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas’ Emmaculate Jemutai runs the 800 meters at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Rock Chalk Park on Friday, May 16, 2025.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas’ Bryce Foster prepares to throw the shot put at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Rock Chalk Park on Friday, May 16, 2025.