JACKSONVILLE, Florida – The impressive legacy of the Southeastern Louisiana track and field program's throwers added another chapter on Thursday, as a pair of Lion student-athletes punched their tickets to next month's NCAA Championships on the opening day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Preliminary Round at Hodges Stadium.
 
Both of SLU's qualifiers came in the men's hammer throw competition. Junior Alex Young and senior Jonathan Kinchen both cracked the top 12 in Thursday's event, advancing them to the NCAA Championships, set for June 10-13 in Eugene, Oregon.
 
Young, the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year, stepped up huge on Thursday. He posted his best performance of the season, finishing sixth with a throw of 216 feet, four inches (65.94 meters).
 
Kinchen, who came in with the ninth-best qualifying mark in the region, surged into the top 12 late in the competition. His throw of 212-7 (64.81 m) was good for 11^th place and advanced the Ponchatoula native to next month's national meet.
 
"We really started off this meet on a high note," Southeastern head coach Sean Brady said. "Alex has proved to be a big meet performer throughout the season and today was no different. Jonathan finally got that big throw he needed on his final attempt and that was enough. We're extremely proud of both of those young men and we're hopeful we can qualify a couple more over the next two days."  
 
Young and Kinchen were three of six SLU student-athletes to compete on the first day of the three-day meet, as senior Brett Olsen (45^th, 174-3) also competed in the hammer throw. In the women's shot put, junior Misha Frazier, who won the Southland Conference championship in the event earlier this month, finished 24^th with a throw of 49-1.75 (14.98 m). Frazier will compete in the hammer throw on Saturday.
 
In the running events, junior Raheem Brown was scratched due to a false start in the men's 100 meters. In the 400 meters, junior Ashley Riley finished 38^th with a time of 47.48 seconds. Brown will be back in action on Saturday as part of the Lions' 4x100-relay team.
 
Friday will be another busy day for Southeastern. Senior Southland champion Derek Hampton will compete along with junior teammate Collin Rowland in the 11 a.m. javelin competition.
 
Olsen, who won the discus competition at the league meet, will compete in the event on Friday at 3 p.m. At 3:30 p.m., SLU freshman Devin King – who enters with the ninth-best qualifying mark in the region – will take part in the men's pole vault.