JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Navy track and field team completed day one of the NCAA East Preliminaries on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. The Midshipmen saw senior Clayton Thompson (Corpus Christi, Texas) and freshman Brahmir Vick (Middletown, Del.) advance to the quarterfinals of the 110m hurdles.
 
"We competed well today," Director of Navy Track and Field Jamie Cook said following the first day of competition. "It was nice to see Clayton and Brahmir advance to the next round of the 110m hurdles. We are excited to come back tomorrow for Day 1 of the women's meet."
 
Thompson and Vick both qualified for the 110m hurdles quarterfinals on Friday. Thompson finished second in the first heat with a time of 13.71 (+2.2) to automatically qualify. The senior captain's time was the 10th best of the day among all participants. Vick clocked a time of 13.91 (+2.2) to finish fifth in the heat. The freshman's performance was one of the six best times among non-automatic qualifiers, moving Vick into Friday's competition.
 
The duo were two of Navy's eight NCAA Regional qualifiers competing on Day 1.
 
In the javelin, the Midshipmen had a trio of throwers participating. Competing in his first NCAA Regional, freshman Braden Presser (Liberty, Mo.) posted a distance of 62.38m (204-08) in his first throw of the afternoon to lead the Mids. Senior captain Skyler Mason (Oakdale, Pa.) recorded a distance of 61.85m (202-11) in his final throw of the afternoon, while junior Hayden Fox (Pittsburgh, Pa.) finished with a top distance of 58.15m (190-09) in his final attempt of the day.
 
The pole vault saw a pair of Navy student-athletes compete. Sophomore Jack Haller (Cumming, Ga.) and senior Thomas Johnstone (Los Gatos, Calif.) each cleared 4.85m (15-11.00) on their second attempt of the afternoon, but were unable to progress past that height.
 
In the 400m dash, senior Eric Hughey (Lee's Summit, Mo.) recorded his third fastest time of the season, 47.16, to finish fourth in his heat, just outside of the top three, which would have automatically qualified him for competition on Friday.
 
The final event of the day for the Midshipmen was the 400m hurdles. Thompson, who raced earlier in the day in the 110m hurdles, finished fifth in the final heat of the 400m hurdles with a time of 52.50.
 
Day two of the 2021 NCAA East Preliminaries continues on Thursday with the first day of the women's competition. Navy will have five student-athletes – Sam Orie (hammer throw), Emma Foster (javelin), Sarah Morris (javelin), Jadyn Tiracave (javelin), and Ann Jackson (long jump) – competing in three events. Live results and live video will be available throughout the NCAA Regional.