ITHACA, N.Y. – After a one week layoff, Cornell men's track and field will return to action over the weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary Round to be hosted by the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. The competition is set to begin on Thursday, May 28, and will continue through Saturday, May 30.
 
The Cornell men had 10 athletes named in the participant field released by the NCAA late last week. The Big Red will have participants in 10 different events on the weekend. The tentative schedule of events for the Cornell men is as follows:
 
Thursday, May 28
12:00 p.m. – Men's Hammer Throw First Round: Rudy Winkler '17
5:00 p.m. – Men's 400 Meter Hurdles First Round: Max Hairston '16
6:00 p.m. – Men's 1500 Meter First Round: James Gowans '17 & Ben Rainero '16
7:00 p.m. – Men's Long Jump First Round: Ryan Hynes '16
 
Friday, May 29
4:00 p.m. – Men's Discus First Round: Stephen Mozia '15
4:30 p.m. – Men's Pole Vault First Round: Keith Rayburn '15
5:00 p.m. – Men's High Jump First Round: Stephen Afadapa '16
5:30 p.m. – Men's 110 Meter Hurdles First Round: Max Hairston '16
*7:45 p.m. – Men's 400 Meter Hurdles Quarterfinals: Max Hairston '16
9:30 p.m. – Men's 3000 Meter Steeplechase Quarterfinals: David Melly '15 & Connor Herr '16
 
Saturday, May 30
5:00 p.m. – Men's Shot Put First Round: Stephen Mozia '15
*6:45 p.m. – Men's 1500 Meter Quarterfinal: James Gowans '17 & Ben Rainero '16
*7:20 p.m. – Men's 110 Meter Hurdles Quarterfinal: Max Hairston '16
 
* - indicates if qualified through the first round of competition
 
Of this season's qualifiers, only Mozia, Hairston and Melly can draw on experience from last year's NCAA Prelim.
 
Mozia competed in both the shot put and discus at last season's event; taking third place in the shot with an outdoor program record throw of 66' 10 ½", while breaking an Ivy League record with a 206' throw to finish second in the discus, qualifying for the NCAA Championships in both.
 
Hairston also had an excellent run in the 110 and 400 meter hurdles last season. Although he just missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships with a 14^th place finish in the 400, he set an Ivy League record with a 110 hurdle time of 13.74 to finish eighth and punch his ticket to Eugene, Ore. He will look to move on in both events this season.
 
Melly completed his breakout track season at last year's East Prelims. He finished 42^nd in the 3000 steeplechase with a 9:14.02 finish.
 
The top 48 declared athletes in states east of the Mississippi River (with the exception of Illinois) were accepted into the NCAA First Round Eastern site.  The top 48 declared athletes in the western states will compete at the same time at the University of Texas.  The Top-12 in each event at the two Preliminary Round sites will advance to the NCAA Finals.
 
The following is an event-by-event breakdown:
 
Hammer Throw
Winkler will look to continue his outstanding breakout sophomore campaign when he gets the Big Red started on Thursday with the hammer throw. He has been fantastic this season, taking a Heps title in the weight throw with a Field MVP Performance indoors. Winkler has been electric in the hammer throw since transitioning outdoors. He took his second Heps title of the year three weeks ago at Franklin Field, while he has broken and re-set the program record for the hammer throw three times throughout the course of the season. He enters the East Prelims as the 12^th seed in the event with a top throw of 218' 2" this season.
 
Discus
Mozia entered the season with huge expectations for his final season to conclude a spectacular career. He has not disappointed sweeping Heps titles in the shot put, while also performing strongly in the discus, hammer and weight throws throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons. He was runner-up in the discus at the Outdoor Heps three weeks ago, battling Penn's Sam Mattis in an epic performance between the two with both men besting the previous meet record a combined six times. He broke the meet record at the IC4A's the following week with a 201' 3" throw to take the title. He enters the East Prelims as the sixth overall seed in the discus with a season best of 201' 3".
 
Shot Put
The shot put has been Mozia's signature event since arriving on East Hill for his first year. He has qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Round every year and the NCAA Championships each of the last two years. He will strive to make it three straight this weekend. Mozia enters the weekend as the fourth overall seed with an outdoor best of 66' 2 ½".
 
110 Hurdles
Hairston has come on strong down the stretch this season, hitting his stride as the schedule changed over to May. He was electric in the 110 hurdles at the Outdoor Heps three weeks ago, taking first place with a final time of 14.11. He also finished second in his semi-final week at the IC4A Championships the following week, but elected to sit out the final. His 14.00 season best is good for 25^th best at this weekend's East Prelims.
 
400 Hurdles
Hairston will double back for the 400 hurdles as well. He was the top qualifier in the preliminary round of the Outdoor Heptagonals three weeks ago, but had to settle for third in the final despite bettering his prelim time by over half a second. His season best of 51.86 is good for 37^th best entering this weekend.
 
1500 Meter
The 1500 is one of two events in which the Big Red has multiple qualifiers. Gowans had a really strong Outdoor Heps. He paced the field in the preliminary round of the event, before settling for second in the finals. With his qualifying position fairly secure he held out of the IC4A Championships the following week. In contrast, Rainero did make the trip to Princeton for the IC4A's aiming to improve his qualifying chances and he did not disappoint. He posted a strong 3:47.21 to get the nod for this weekend's East Prelim. Gowans is the 46^th ranked qualifier with a season best 3:45.79, while Rainero ranks 47^th with a season best of 3:45.81.
 
3000 Meter Steeplechase
The 3000 steeple is the other event in which the Big Red has multiple qualifiers. Melly has put together an excellent season, which was highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Outdoor Heps three weeks ago. Herr finished right on Melly's tail at the Heps, taking third place. Melly enters the weekend with the 21^st best seasonal time at 8:51.83, while Herr ranks 28^th with an 8:53.66.
 
Long Jump
Hynes has had a solid season for the Big Red. Although he's done excellent work on the squad's 4x100 relay, earning an Outdoor Heps title, he has also done nice work in the long jump. He finished 11^th at the Heps three weeks back. His season best of 24' 3 ¾" is 40^th best heading into the weekend.
 
High Jump
Afadapa has had a strong junior season for the Big Red and is set to make his first appearance in the East Prelims. He took home a sixth place finish in the high jump at the Outdoor Heps with a 6' 8 ¼" clearance. His season best of 6' 9 ¾" is good for 40^th best entering the weekend.
 
Pole Vault
Rayburn has posted a strong season becoming Cornell's primary vaulter since the competition shifted outdoors. He cleared 16' 4 ¾" at the Outdoor Heps to place fifth. His season best of 16' 8 ¾" is good for 34^th heading into this weekend's events.
 
Live tracking of all of this weekend's action can be found at the following link: Click Here.
 
Those who qualify will travel to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA Track and Field Championships which will take place on June 10-13.