RICHMOND, Va. – Four VCU Men's Track & Field standouts have qualified for the NCAA Championships East First Round, which will be held May 27-30 at the UK Track & Field Complex in Lexington, Ky.
 
Each student-athlete qualified by recording a mark that ranked in the top 48 in the East Region in their respective events this spring. The top 12 in each event will advance out of the First Round and into the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. June 10-13.
 
Freshman Presten Augustin (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), in the midst of an outstanding rookie campaign, will compete in both the 110- and 400-meter hurdles in Lexington. The Florida native clocked 13.82 seconds in the 110 hurdles last week at the Dani Palooza Last Chance meet and will be seeded 36^th in that event. Augustin captured gold in the 400 hurdles at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship in an NCAA First Round-qualifying time of 51.49.
 
Augustin, who also placed second at the A-10 Championships in the 110 hurdles, will race in the NCAA East First Round semifinals on Wednesday, May 27 at 6 p.m. (110 hurdles) and again at 8:20 (400 hurdles). Should he advance, the quarterfinals will be held on Friday, May 29 at 6:15 p.m. (110 hurdles) and 7:25 (400 hurdles).  
 
A pair of Rams, senior Philip Daniel (Manassas Park, Va.) and junior Isaiah-Taji Kargbo-Owens (Falls, Church, Va.), will compete for VCU in the NCAA East First Round in the triple jump on Friday, May 29 at 6 p.m. Both will be making their second straight NCAA East First Round appearance. Daniel, who own's VCU's program record in the triple jump, is seeded 13^th with a mark of 15.92 meters. He was also the runner-up at the A-10 Outdoor Championships in the triple jump earlier this month and captured the conference's indoor crown in the event in February.
 
Kargbo-Owens is seeded 16^th by virtue of his mark of 15.78 meters, set last month at the Virginia Challenge. He placed third in the triple jump at the A-10 Outdoor Championships.
 
Senior Troy McWilliams (Newport News, Va.) threw a personal-best 62.32 meters in the hammer on May 9 at the Mount Olive Final Qualifier to punch his ticket to Lexington. A transfer from Norfolk State, McWilliams will be making his first NCAA First Round appearance following a spring in which he took bronze at the A-10 Outdoor Championships.