West Virginia track and field sends pair of runners to NCAA Championships

West Virginia track and field sent six athletes NCAA East First Round Meet in Jacksonville, Florida this week, with the goal of securing their spots at the NCAA Track and Field Championships later this month.

And while not every athlete was able to advance to the ultimate stage of collegiate track and field, the Mountaineers did manage to see a pair of distance runners move on to represent the old-gold-and-blue at the NCAA Championships by way of their performances.

The tone was set on Thursday as freshman Joy Naukot carried her momentum from her Big 12 Championship performance in the women's 10,000 meter run into the same event at the NCAA East First Round. She crossed the finish line in the race with a mark of 32 minutes, 51.33 seconds to snag an eight-place finish in the event, with the Top 12 finishers securing a spot at the NCAA Championship meet.

The true freshman standout from Kapenguia, Kenya became the seventh Mountaineer in program history to qualify for the NCAA Championship in the event.

Her performance was followed up by another massive effort from graduate student Sarah Tait on Saturday, who recently captured the Big 12 Championship in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase.

Performing in the same event at the NCAA East First Round meet, Tait won her individual heat by over five seconds as she finished the race in 9 minutes, 42.14 seconds -- good enough for the third-best time overall at the meet. Tait need to manage a top-three finish in her heat to guarantee her spot at the NCAA Championship.