2016 T&F Collegians Headline NACAC U23 Championships

NEW ORLEANS — If you thought the next time we’re going to see collegians from 2016 go up against each other on the track and in the field is at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, you got another thing coming.

This weekend marks the start of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) U23 Championships. The meet runs from Friday through Sunday in San Salvador, El Salvador.

QUICK LINKS: Meet Home | Performance Lists | Collegians Entered

If all goes according to plan and each collegian who is entered decides to compete in their respective events, we could see some great action.

Here are a few of the events that we’re keeping our eye on this weekend. Check below for the full list of events and let us know on Twitter (@ustfccca) which ones you’re excited about.

Note: Of those athletes entered, 14 will represent their respective countries at the Olympic Games.

Women’s Long Jump

Quanesha Burks vs. Chanice Porter vs. Akela Jones

It’s not often that you get to see the indoor and outdoor champ in NCAA Division I face off against each other in the same year that they won the title. Throw in one of the best non-specialists in the nation and it gets even better.

Alabama’s Quanesha Burks (NCAA DI indoor champ) squares off with Georgia’s Chanice Porter (NCAA DI outdoor champ) with Kansas State’s Akela Jones lording over the proceedings. Burks will represent the United States, Porter her native Jamaica and Jones her native Barbados.

According to the performance list, Burks, Jones and Porter are all seeded better than the meet record of 6.66m set by Jeomi Maduka in 2008. Burks and Jones are separated by one centimeter (6.80m to 6.79m), while Porter is a bit further behind at 6.70m.

Competition begins Sunday morning at 11:40 a.m. ET.

Women’s 800 Meters

Raevyn Rogers vs. Olivia Baker

Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers and Stanford’s Olivia Baker aren’t strangers to each other on the track as they raced three times alone during this past outdoor season. Rogers got the better of Baker each round, including the last matchup at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in which she completed the indoor-outdoor sweep.

Baker and Rogers were on a collision course once again at the U.S. Olympic Trials – Track & Field, but Baker fell short of making the finals, while Rogers placed fifth in a competitive race.

If Baker and Rogers both stick in Sunday’s NACAC final, they could be pulled to fast times. They’re the third and fourth seed based off the performance list and that’s crazy to think when they’re at 2:00.75 and 2:01.02 already.

Men’s High Jump

Avion Jones vs. Trey Culver

Olympic aspirations eluded Texas Tech’s Trey Culver and East Carolina’s Avion Jones last week. Culver finished in a tie for eighth at the Trials, while Jones no-heighted on 2.16m (7-1).

Should they compete Sunday in the NACAC final and perform up to their seeded marks, they could find the momentum they need going into the long offseason.

Jones is seeded first at 2.31m, with Culver second at 2.26m. Next up is Kansas State’s Christoff Bryan at 2.25m. After that, it falls off to 2.18m and beyond.

The NACAC U23 record is 2.28m, set by Ryasn Ingraham in 2014.

Men’s 400 Meters

Fred Kerley vs. Michael Cherry

Texas A&M’s Fred Kerley (45.10) and LSU’s Michael Cherry (45.11) ended the collegiate season ranked the fourth and fifth fastest men at 400 meters. At this weekend’s NACAC Championships, they’re seeded first and second.

Kerley underwhelmed at Trials (27th in qualifying), while Cherry missed the final by two hundredths of a second.

Both could shine in El Salvador should they compete and make it to Saturday’s final.

Men’s 1500 Meters

Thomas Awad vs. Henry Wynne

Penn’s Thomas Awad and Virginia’s Henry Wynne have unfinished business, not with each other but with the 1500.

Awad was the third fastest collegian this past outdoor season but didn’t get a chance to contest the event at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. He did, however, run at Trials, where he finished 24th in the semifinal round.

Wynne captured the indoor mile title and then took third place outdoors in the 1500 behind Akron’s Clayton Murphy and Washington’s Izaic Yorks.

Awad and Wynne are both entered in Friday’s final — the first one on the track — and are seeded well under the meet record of 3:44.45 set by Oliver Collin in 2010.