Five Bulldogs have qualified to participate in the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships East preliminary competition next week.

The NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country Committee has announced the field for both the East and West preliminaries Thursday, May 16.

The preliminary competitions are scheduled for May 23-25. The University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida will host the East Preliminary and California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, California will host the West Preliminary. The qualifiers out of these two regions will compete in the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.

The complete list of participants is available on the following web site. The top 48 student-athletes in each event comprise the regional field.

Euan Makepeace will focus on the 5,000 meters in Jacksonville. Makepeace also qualified in the 1,500 meters but will scratch from that event. In the 5k, Makepeace posted a time of 13:54.62 at the Mt. SAC Relays April 18. That was the 15^th-best time in the East Region this season and is 12th among athletes who will run in Jacksonville. Makepeace won the BIG EAST title in the 5k last weekend, crossing the line in 14:15.21.

Like Makepeace, Barry Keane also qualified for the Regional in two events. Keane will run in the 10,000 meters behind a time of 29:12.14 at the Raleigh Relays March 29. That is the 19^th-best time in the Region. Keane scratched from the 5,000 meters after also qualifying in that event. Keane is the BIG EAST champion in the 10k after his performance last weekend.

Johnny Leverenz will run the 1,500 meters at the Regional. His time of 3:45.05 at the Raleigh Relays in late March was 37^th in the East Region. With 10 scratches ahead of him (including Makepeace), he enters as the 27th-ranked athlete. Leverenz was second in the event at last weekend's BIG EAST Championships.

Clark Otte will represent Butler in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. At the Louisville-hosted Lenny Lyles-Clark Wood Invitational April 26, Otte ran a time of 8:58.99, which proved to be No. 41 on the East Region performance list and the 39^th-fastest time of those competing next week.

The top 24 athletes nationally will participate in the decathlon at the NCAA Championships next month in Austin, Texas. (The event is not done at the Regional level.) Currently, Butler record-holder Wade Walder is in the No. 25 position. If at least one athlete scratches prior to the June 2 deadline, Walder will be part of the field. Walder put up 7,355 points in the event at the Bryan Clay Invitational April 17.

On the women's side, three-time BIG EAST champion Allie Vogeler will run the 400-meter hurdles in Jacksonville. Her best time of the season came April 17 at the Bryan Clay Invitational (58.87). That time is 24^th among the field entering competition. A year ago, Vogeler posted a Butler record of 58.01 at the NCAA East Preliminary.

Josephine Thestrup narrowly missed a spot in the women's 1,500 meters field behind her time of 4:23.34. That mark was 81st in the region, but with scratches, Thestrup ended up being the 53^rd runner looking for one of 48 spots in the field. The final qualifier posted a time of 4:22.95, just .39 better than Thestrup's season-best.

NCAA track and field fans can watch live and on-demand coverage of the NCAA Division I East and/or West Preliminary Championships on FloTrack with a Pro subscription. Coverage of the preliminary competitions will be available May 23-25. To access the East Preliminary coverage please click here.