ARLINGTON, Texas – The road to TrackTown USA begins for eight UT Arlington track & field student-athletes as they qualified to compete in the NCAA DI West First Round which begins next Wednesday, May 28, and runs through Saturday, May 31, down in College Station at E.B. Cushing Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M.
The Mavericks will be represented in eight events with five on the men's side (
Alex Kalmar,
Kash Powell,
Randon Gray,
Calen Jones &
Hayden Wilson) and three on the women's side (
Adeyemi Talabi,
Winnie Kipsang &
Zaire Moore).
Adeyemi Talabi is the lone Mav to represent UTA in two separate events, competing in the women's 100m dash and the women's long jump. Talabi posted a new personal record of 11.36 in the 100m dash this past Saturday at the 2025 WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships which catapulted her into the top 40 in the west region where she currently sits tied for 35th overall. At the WAC Outdoor Championships, Talabi also posted a personal best in the long jump with a mark of 6.17m which has her 50th in the west region.
UTA will be represented in the 800m on both the men's and women's side. The lone event that features multiple Mavs,
Alex Kalmar and
Kash Powell will compete in the men's 800m. Kalmar's time of 1:47.38 that he ran back in the beginning of May at the TCU Horned Frog Invitational has him currently as the 20th best time in the west. Powell's time of 1:48.12 he ran back in mid-April at the Bryan Clay Invitational has him currently as the 42nd fastest in the west. On the women's side,
Winnie Kipsang currently has the 28th fastest time of 2:04.72 which she also ran at the TCU Horned Frog Invitational. This is Kipsang's second straight year punching her ticket to the west regionals.
In the men's high jump,
Calen Jones makes his second straight trip to the west regionals. He currently sits 23rd overall in the west with a jump of 2.14m that he posted back at the start of May at the TCU Horned Frog Invitational. Jones' mark has him ranked the highest in the west amongst all Mavs making the trip.
Randon Gray will be looking to return to Eugene where he finished 14th overall and was a Second Team All-American last season. Gray enters the west regionals sitting 26th overall with a mark of 5.33m which he reached at the 44 Farms Invitational back on April 11. Last season, Gray punched his ticket to Oregon on the first day of the west regionals.
In the men's shot put,
Hayden Wilson makes his first trip to the west regionals. The reigning WAC indoor and outdoor champion currently sits 40th in the west with a personal best mark of 18.33m which he threw back in late April at the Joe Gillespie Invitational.
Zaire Moore makes her second straight trip to the West First Round. The junior currently sits 48th in the west with a time 13.52 in the women's 100m hurdles. The 13.52 is a personal record for Moore, which she ran this past Saturday at the 2025 WAC Outdoor Championships in which she received a bronze medal for her performance. Last year, she competed in the 400m hurdles at the west regionals.
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