FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – HCU track & field will see three student-athletes compete this Wednesday and Friday at the 2026 NCAA West Prelims held at John McDonnell Field.
On Wednesday, junior
SJ Marais will hit the track for the first round of the 110-meter hurdles at 6:00 p.m. He comes into the meet tied for 33
rd in the West Region in the 110h and tied for 59
th nationally with a top time of 13.78 this season. That 13.78, a new HCU record, came at the Southland Conference Championships as Marais took the top spot on the podium with a gold-medal performance.
Later on Wednesday, freshman
Rayhan Mourtada is one of six freshmen to qualify in the region in the 400-meter hurdles. Mourtada ran his qualifying, and PR, time of 51.00 at the SLC Championships less than two weeks ago, placing fourth. His time ranks 39
th in the West Region and 72
nd in the NCAA.
HCU's third competitor is freshman high jumper
Julius Malone. The men's high jump is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday with Malone jumping in flight two. The freshman is tied for the 20
th-best jump of the year in the NCAA this season, clearing a school record height of 2.17m/7-1.50 on March 28 at the Rice Victor Lopez Classic. That was the top mark in the Southland Conference this season.
Additionally, junior
Josh Gillis-Harry qualified in the triple jump with a PR mark of 15.81m/51-10.5 from the UH Cameron Burrell Invitational that ranks 25th in the West Region and 40th nationally. He will not, however be competing in Fayetteville this week.
For Marais and Mourtada, they can advance to Friday's quarterfinals in their respective events via either a top-three finish in their heat or by posting one of the next six-best times. In the high jump, the top 12 finishers will advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. in June.
