Junior Trac Norris will compete for All-American status at the NCAA Championships hosted by the University of Oregon on Wednesday, June 10, at Historic Hayward Field in the 3,000m steeplechase.
Norris earned his automatic qualifying spot at the NCAA Western Preliminary Rounds in Austin, Texas, on May 30, earning the third position in his heat with a career best and school record time of 8:50.49. Norris is only the second athlete in UVU history to qualify for the NCAA Championship Final Rounds, following the 2014 standout in the decathlon, Michael McPherson.
"I am so excited to be here," Norris said. "I am proud to represent Utah Valley University and I am proud to be a Wolverine. I always dreamed of making it this far and I knew I could do it. I'm pleased to have reached my goals and am eager to set and reach new ones."
Norris' race is slated for Wednesday at approximately 5:38 p.m. MT, where he will compete to qualify for the finals on Friday and the coveted top 16 All-America positions.
"This is a great opportunity for UVU to be represented at the NCAA Championships," head coach Scott Houle said. "It is great for Trac to have this experience and to meet some of his goals. As a high school senior in Panguitch, Utah, I don't know if very many people thought that he would make it this far. Trac has proved that it doesn't matter where you come from, you can achieve some big things."
The Championships will be televised via the ESPN networks with action running all week long beginning Wednesday at 12 p.m. MT. The format has changed this season, with the men's and women's competition being separated into different days. The men compete Wednesday and Friday, while the women compete Thursday and Saturday.