LEXINGTON, Ky. – On day two of the NCAA Track & Field East First Round Championships, Emily Romano of the High Point University women's track and field team earned her ticket to the NCAA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. This will be Romano's first time making the trip out West as she joins three other Panthers who qualified, including Cole Wilson, Ricardo Montes de Oca and Jason Olivera, Jr. making it the most athletes to qualify in program history.

"It was a wonderful day," Scott Houston stated, "and getting another athlete through to Eugene is the highlight to talk about. It was a stressful but also very exciting day. Emily [Romano] did a great job putting herself in a position to make the Championships. She ended up going to a jump-off but showed her true character, true grit and resilience to win the jump-off after seemingly being in a position to make it a little bit less easy than it could have been. She showed what she was capable of doing and I couldn't be more proud of her. Lily [Houston] also made some impressive moves and had some clutch third attempts. It was a great experience for both of them and to get another athlete to the Championships, we couldn't be any more excited."
 
Romano cleared her first three bars on the first attempt, setting her up for strong success to finish in the top 12. She jumped at the opening bar of 3.92m before moving up to 4.07 and then 4.22m. As the bar went up to 4.27m, Romano was not able to clear the bar in three attempts but sat in a three-way tie for the 11th and 12th spot in the field which forced a jump-off.
 
Louisville's Iliana Triantafyllou had success first and earned the 11th spot in the field, while Romano and Kentucky's Anne Murphy continued to battle for the final qualifying spot. Romano won the jump-off to earn a ticket to the NCAA Championships.
 
Along with Romano, Lily Houston represented in the pole vault and finished with a 4.07m clear. In the long jump, Gianna Paul registered a 5.97m jump. Ashlyn Giles competed in the shot put and threw 16.31m. Earlier in the day, Moriah Evans competed in the javelin and threw 44.27m.
 
 
UP NEXT:
High Point will return to Lexington, Kentucky to compete in day three of the NCAA East First Rounds.