Day One Full Results | Day Two Heat Sheets 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (SMU) - For the second time in her career, SMU standout thrower Tochi Nlemchi paved a clear path to the NCAA Championships in the shot put event. The senior's mark of 16.29m was good for ninth place on Thursday at the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Sacramento, California.

In her fourth career appearance at the West Preliminary, Nlemchi was one of 12 competitors who advanced to the shot put finals at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon on June 6-9.

The senior is no stranger to the national stage, having earned ninth-place at the NCAA Championships in 2016 to take home Second Team All-American honors. She entered Thursday's regional competition with a seeded mark 17.05m, a personal best and the third-best mark in program history, which she set two weeks ago at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships.

Two Mustangs are a step closer to the championships after advancing for the 100-meter dash quarterfinals. Latessa Johnson and Chelsea Francis clocked qualifying times in each of their heats Thursday, with Johnson taking third in the fourth heat (11.43) and Francis finishing third in heat five (11.58w).

The sprinters continue on to face a pool of 24 in the quarterfinal Friday at 6:15 p.m. PT/8:15 p.m. CT.

Distance runner Hannah Miller closed out the night for the Mustangs on the track with the 10,000-meter race. Miller finished 31^st with a time of 34:00.81 in her first of two events this weekend. The sophomore returns to the track on Saturday as the No. 30 seed in the 5,000-meter.

The Mustangs will compete in the 100-meter quarterfinals and 200-meter first round Friday. Still to come on Saturday is Atipa Mabonga in the first round of the triple jump and Hannah Miller in the 5,000-meter semifinals.

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SMU Results - NCAA West Preliminary Championships - Day One
Shot Put
9. Tochi Nlemchi                    16.29m (53-5½ ) - Qualifies for NCAA Championships

100m Dash First Round
15. Latessa Johnson              11.43 - Qualifies for quarterfinals
21. Chelsea Francis               11.58 - Qualifies for quarterfinals

10,000m
31. Hannah Miller                   34:00.81

SMU Schedule - Day Two - Friday, May 25
6:15 p.m. PT/8:15 p.m. CT           100m Dash Quarterfinals           Latessa Johnson & Chelsea Francis
7:55 p.m. PT/9:55 p.m. CT           200m Dash First Round             Latessa Johnson & Chelsea Francis