BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The NCAA announced on Thursday the accepted student-athletes for the first rounds of the 2025 NCAA Div. I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is sending a program-best eight Vaqueros to compete at the NCAA West First Round running May 28-31 in Bryan-College Station, Texas. 
 
The Vaqueros will have three track and five field student-athletes representing UTRGV in seven events at the postseason meet hosted at Texas A&M. Previously, the program record for NCAA West qualifiers was seven set in 2019.

Junior Nayla Harris will compete in the women's 100-meter dash, while junior Corin Burns and freshman Richard Young will race in the men's 200-meter dash. Junior Hannah Hilding is set to make her second consecutive NCAA West appearance in the women's hammer throw and senior Efe Latham will take on the women's shot put. Sophomore Keamonie Archie and juniors Aaron Cooper and Achol Maywin qualified for jumps. Cooper earned his second consecutive NCAA West bid in men's triple jump, while Archie takes on men's long jump and Maywin competes in women's high jump. 
 
"We are always striving to get better, and this record number of qualifiers is the result of that unwavering drive for continued success. It's become a habit for this group to set program bests," head coach Shareese Hicks said.

The top 48 declared student-athletes are accepted into the East and West first rounds for individual events, and the top 24 declared relay teams are accepted. The top 24 declared heptathlon and decathlon competitors advance straight to the championship meet. The qualifying window was from March 1 to May 19. 
 
Harris, the 2025 Southland Conference (SLC) champion in the 100 (and indoors in the 60-meter dash) heads to College Station ranked 16^th in the West with her program and personal-best time of 11.22. 
 
Hilding is 30^th in women's hammer with a mark of 59.44 meters, a personal best. She won the SLC championship in the event. Last year, Hilding finished 32^nd in hammer at NCAA West.  
 
Cooper is tied for 31^st in men's triple jump with his program and personal-best mark of 15.48 meters. He was the bronze medalist at the SLC Outdoor Championships in the event. In 2024, Cooper finished 30^th at NCAA West. 
 
Burns and Young both head to NCAA West tied at 39^th on the men's 100 performance list with a time of 20.79, which is a program record. Burns was the 100-meter dash silver medalist at the SLC Outdoor Championships. This is the junior's second trip to NCAA West after qualifying for the meet in 2023 while competing at Incarnate Word. Young, a freshman, is UTRGV's youngest qualifier. 
 
Maywin is one of three women's high jumpers heading to NCAA West with a clearance of 1.77 meters. That mark is a program and personal record, which Maywin tabbed at the SLC Outdoor Championships as she earned silver. 
 
Latham captured the women's shot put silver medal at SLC Outdoor Championships with a mark of 15.36 meters, which is a personal best and the mark which secured her spot at NCAA West. She is 46^th on the performance list. 
 
Archie also earned a silver medal at SLC Outdoor Championships with his personal-best mark of 7.52 meters, which has him heading to College Station ranked 46^th on the men's long jump performance list. 
 
The NCAA East First Round also runs May 28-31 in Jacksonville, Fla. The top 12 finishers in each individual event and the top 12 teams in each relay will advance from the first round meets to the championship meet scheduled for June 11-14 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. 
 
UTRGV Schedule 
Wednesday, May 28 
Men's long jump first round, 4:30 p.m. 
Keamonie Archie 
 
Men's 200-meter dash first round, 8:45 p.m. 
Corin Burns 
Richard Young 
 
Thursday, May 29 
Women's hammer throw first round, 10 a.m. 
Hannah Hilding 
 
Women's 100-meter dash first round, 7 p.m. 
Nayla Harris 
 
Friday, May 30 
Men's triple jump first round, 2:30 p.m. 
Aaron Cooper 
 
Men's 200-meter dash quarterfinals, 7:50 p.m. 
TBD
 
Saturday, May 31 
Women's high jump semifinal, 3:30 p.m. 
Achol Maywin 
 
Women's 100-meter dash quarterfinals, 6:35 p.m. 
TBD

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