FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The NCAA Track & Field and Cross Country Championships Sub-Committee announced on Thursday the participants for the first rounds of the 2026 NCAA Div. I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) had a program-record 11 individuals make the cut. 
 
UTRGV will be sending seven women's student-athletes and four men's student-athletes to the NCAA West first round set for May 27-30 at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Vaqueros will compete in 12 different events totaling 14 entries – 13 individual and one relay. The top 48 declared student-athletes in individual events, excluding multis, and the top 24 relays make their respective first round meets. 
 
Sophomore Jizzale Davis is one of five Vaqueros set to compete in multiple events at the championship preliminary meet and qualified for a program-high three events. The Southland Conference (SLC) 4x100-meter relay champion and three-time 2026 outdoor silver medalist will take on the women's 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay. Davis tabbed both of her individual qualifying times at SLC Outdoor Championships, running personal bests of 11.42 in the 100 and 23.30 in the 200, setting a program record in the 200. 
 
Joining Davis on the relay will be redshirt junior Ashley Lingueno, freshman Dior Williams and senior Kaliyah Poston. The quartet ran their qualifying and season-best time of 44.74 last week at the conference championships to claim the gold medal. 
 
Williams and Poston will also be racing as individuals. Williams, a two-time SLC hurdles silver medalist in her rookie season, qualified in the women's 100-meter hurdles with her personal-best time of 13.28 clocked on April 11. Poston ran 23.34 in a bronze medal performance at the conference meet to secure her spot in the NCAA West first round. 
 
Junior N Vanee Anchike is another multi-event qualifier for UTRGV. Anchike, the SLC Women's Cross Country and Indoor Track & Field Newcomer of the Year, will be racing in the 800-meter run and 1,500-meter run in Fayetteville. She owns the 17^th-best time in the West region of 2:03.00 in the 800 and is ranked 20^th in the 1,500 with a time of 4:14.41 – both are program records. 
 
Senior Daniel Siaffa will be representing UTRGV's men's track & field team in both the 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles. Siaffa secured his spot in the championship preliminary meet by running a program and personal best 13.84 in a fourth-place finish in the 110 hurdles at the conference meet. He grabbed the final qualification spot in the 400 hurdles with his personal best time of 51.17 clocked on March 21. This will be Siaffa's second trip to the NCAA West first round after first making the meet in 2024. 
 
Joining Siaffa in the men's 110-meter hurdles first round will be junior Jefferson Jean. Jean ran his ticket-punching and personal best time of 13.91 on April 25 in Waco. 
 
Senior Efe Latham is making a return trip to the NCAA West first round in women's shot put. Last year, she finished 36^th at this meet. This year, she qualified with a personal best mark of 15.78 meters and goes into the competition ranked 34^th in the region. 
 
Junior Treasure Vallerie rounds out the women's qualifiers and will be representing UTRGV in the 400-meter dash. She secured her spot in the championship preliminary with a program and personal best performance at SLC Outdoor Championships, where she ran 52.35 to finish fourth. 
 
A pair of freshmen will be representing the men's team in field events at NCAA West. Antwoine Warren is one of six men heading to Fayetteville with a high jump qualifying clearance of 2.16 meters, which is the eighth-highest mark in the region. Matic Vidmar will compete in javelin. The SLC runner-up in the event is UTRGV's program-record holder with his qualifying throw of 65.02 meters. 
 
The NCAA East First Round also runs May 27-30 in Lexington, Kentucky. 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 NCAA Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships scheduled for June 10-13 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. 

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