SACRAMENTO, Calif. – UC Riverside Track & Field will be sending five student-athletes to this week's NCAA West Prelims, which will take place from May 24-26. Competing at Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium will be Weslie Pearce (3000m steeple), Faith Makau (800m, 1500m), Tayler Fleming (long jump), Michael Kojin (200m) and Heinrich Van Niekerk (800m).
Women's
Representing the Highlanders on the women's side will be a trio of seniors that has combined to take home five Big West Championships over the past five years.

Weslie Pearce will compete in the 3000m steeplechase fresh off her second consecutive conference title in the event. After being one of two Highlanders to carry a No. 1 seed into the 2018 Big West Championships, she became the third Highlander ever to win back-to-back championships, also taking third in the 5000m. She is the program's all-time record holder in both the 3000m steeplechase (10:24.24) and the 10,000m (35:11.70).

Faith Makau qualified for the regionals in both the 800m and the 1500m. At the Big West Championships earlier this month, she took home second in the 1500m (4:29.72) and third in the 800m (2:09.35). All-time at UCR, she holds the third-fastest time in the 800m (2:05.93) and fourth-fastest in the 1500m (4:22.18). Aside from her success on the track, she has been a huge contributor to UCR's cross country program, having won the 2014 Big West Championship on her way to taking home Big West XC Athlete of the Year and Freshman of the Year accolades.

Tayler Fleming will take on the field in the long jump, having qualified for the prelims with what was the conference's top mark at the time (20-4.50) at the Highlander Twilight on April 13. Fleming went on to claim her second individual Big West title with the conference's best championship-winning long jump (20-3.75) in the last 11 years. That made her the fifth Highlander in program history with a pair of golds in the same event. She is also one of two athletes to earn Big West Athlete of the Week honors this year.

Men's
Michael Kojin joined Weslie Pearce as one of two Highlanders this year to carry a No. 1 seed into the Big West Championships, having posted the fastest 200m time (20.94w, Highlander Twilight) in the conference heading into the postseason. That mark qualified him for his first-ever NCAA Regionals. He was also one of two Highlanders to earn Big West Athlete of the Week honors this year. Kojin was in the championship round in three different events at this year's Big West Championships, finishing sixth in the 200m (21.81), seventh in the 100m (10.73), and fifth in the 4x100m Relay (40.97).

Lastly, Heinrich Van Niekerk will run in the 800m. At the UCI Steve Scott Invitational on April 28, the South Africa native ran a 1:50.06, good for second all-time at UCR. He would go on to finish second in the Big West Championships as well with a time of 1:51.18.
 

Highlanders Event Schedule
Date	Event	Round	Time
Thursday, May 24	Women's 1500m	First	6:00 pm
Thursday, May 24	Women's Long Jump	First	7:30 pm
Thursday, May 24	Men's 800m	First	8:10 pm
Thursday, May 24	Women's 800m	First	8:35 pm
Friday, May 25	Men's 800m	Quarterfinal	6:15 pm
Friday, May 25	Women's 800m	Quarterfinal	6:30 pm
Friday, May 25	Men's 200m	First Round	7:30 pm
Friday, May 25	Women's 3000m Steeplechase	Quarterfinal	9:00 pm
Saturday, May 26	Women's 1500m	Quarterfinal	6:45 pm
Saturday, May 26	Men's 200m	Quarterfinal	7:35 pm