BERKELEY – Eight track & field student-athletes will compete for national titles as they head to Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin Texas for the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships from Wednesday to Saturday.
 
Wednesday's action will feature three competitors as Silviu Bocancea will lead things off in the men's hammer throw competition at 4 p.m. CT. Bocancea had the 14th-best mark at the NCAA Prelims as he threw 67.43m/221-2. Bocancea had a career-best throw of 68.82m/225-9 at this year's Big Meet. This is the second straight appearance at the NCAA Championship as he took 16^th at last year's competition and earned Second Team All-America honors.
 
Wednesday will also feature the prelims for all of the men's races and will see Misana Viltz and Paramveer Chohan compete in their first NCAA Championship. Viltz will run in the 110m hurdles at 7:32 p.m. The senior ran his two fastest races of the year at the NCAA West Prelims. He recorded a time of 13.78 in the prelims and followed that with a mark of 13.85 in the quarterfinals to earn the top time-qualifying mark and a berth at the NCAA Championship.
 
Chohan will compete in the 400m hurdles at 8:30 p.m. as he looks for a repeat of his performance at the Pac-12 Championship. Chohan recorded the fifth-fastest time in school history at 49.80 as he took the silver medal. At the NCAA West Prelims, the junior ran 50.61 and finished in the final qualifying spot. Viltz and Chohan will look to finish in the top eight of their events to earn a berth in the finals.
 
Friday's action will kick off with the women's hammer throw as Camryn Rogers goes for the NCAA Championship in the hammer throw at 4:30 p.m. Rogers, the Pac-12 Champion in the event, enters Austin with the third-best mark in the country at 69.79m/229-0. She set that at the Pac-12 Championship as she defeated the two people ahead of her on the descending order list. She followed that by defeating them again at the NCAA West Prelims as she recorded the top throw of the competition at 67.22m/220-6. Rogers also holds the Cal school record and the Canadian U23 record in the event.
 
Rebecca Croft will continue her season on at 8:44 p.m. on Thursday as she competes in the semifinals of the 800m. The senior recorded a personal best of 2:04.35 at the NCAA West Prelims as she raced to the finish line and earned a spot in Austin. That was fourth-fastest time in school history and allowed Croft to finish her career with her first NCAA Championship appearance.
 
After the best meet of her career, Zion Corrales Nelson will compete in the 200m on Thursday at 9:14 p.m. CT. Corrales Nelson set personal bests in both the 100m and 200m at the NCAA West Prelims, qualifying with a time of 23.16 in the 200m. That was the second-fastest 200m in school history, she also recorded the third-fastest 100m with a time of 11.41, which was 14^th and just .01 seconds from a qualifying spot in that event. Corrales Nelson and Croft will look to qualify for the event finals, which will take place on Saturday.
 
Iffy Joyner will be in the second flight of the discus competition after qualifying with the sixth-best mark in the west region at 56.19m/184-4. Joyner holds the Cal freshman record in the event as he recorded a throw of 59.07m/193-9 at the Big Meet. That mark is also the ninth-best throw in school history.
 
The final Bear to begin competition is triple jumper Tuomas Kaukolahti. The native of Finland will compete at 7:40 p.m. CT on Friday evening. He enters the competition after winning the Pac-12 title in the event. He enters with the fifth-best mark in the country at 16.50m/54-1.75, which he set at the Big Meet this year. This is the second-straight NCAA Outdoor appearance and he also has two First Team All-America performances during indoor season.
 
Those eight Bears will look to make their mark on the national stage as they compete for the final time during the 2019 season. This will also be the last meet for Cal Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Tony Sandoval. Sandoval will be retiring at the end of the season after 37 seasons of dedication to the Cal track & field team.