Arizona track and field sends 3 athletes to NCAA Indoor Championships

Seniors Emma Gates in the high jump, Tapenisa Havea in the shot put and Mason Lawyer (60-meter dash) will represent Arizona.

“In a lot of people's opinions in the track and field world, the indoor national championships is — outside the Olympic Games and the world championships — is the most difficult track meet in the world to qualify for,” said UA head coach Andrew Dubs. “If you look at all the events, men and women, top 16 in the NCAA, a lot of those marks are top 10 world marks, a lot of them are No. 1 world marks. I know Mason's up there in the world ranking with his mark.”

Dubs’ last job was the USA National Track and Field Team's head coach.

“So, if you look at what it takes to get to this meet, whether you're first seed or whether you're the 16th seed, everybody has a coin flip chance to win, it’s just that high of a level; one round and then straight to the final, so you're not battling with all the rounds,” Dubs said. “But just to qualify for this meet puts you in the mix to win it.

“So we're really excited about all three of them and their chance to place as high as they can with the level of competition that we're going against.”

The meet is at Arkansas and starts Friday morning with Lawyer running at 3:45 p.m. Then it continues Saturday morning with Gates and Havea’s events and the finals of the 60m.

Oregon is the defending women’s champion, and USC won it all on the men’s side last year.

Havea was the first of the three Wildcats to qualify with a throw of 17.22 meters at the Friday Night Axe 'Em Open at NAU on Jan. 9 to open the season. The New Zealander is making her NCAA championships debut but is ranked No. 14 in the country.

“I think going back to the first meet, I wasn't really expecting anything other than going out there, have fun and throw far and I think I'm gonna bring that into this week as well,” Havea said. “Throughout the season, coach and I had been working on a little few things and especially this week, it has been clicking a lot better, so heading into this week, I think kind of having the same mindset of going into have fun, but also going in to actually throw far and throw against the best of the best in this NCAA Division I competition.”

Gates punched her ticket with a jump of 1.91 meters at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in late January. She’s ranked No. 4 and finished fourth at the indoor championships last year with a leap of 1.88 meters, a mark she equaled at the Big 12 Championships, where she took fifth.

“It was a great experience, I think last year's place was a little bit unexpected, but last year, what I did was just, I just went in, and I didn't jump anything crazy,” Gates said. “It was just pretty much what I'd been doing the whole season, but that just shows that being consistent, at a meet like that, can get you a pretty high place.

“So, yeah, I'm just looking to go and be consistent and see where I can place this year.”

Gates is a senior in indoor and a junior in outdoor track and field. Last year, she sat out the outdoor season as she competed for Team USA at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

The Stayton, Oregon, native took third at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, clearing 1.91 meters.

"I think I had a little bit of pressure on myself to qualify coming into the season, just coming off of Worlds and getting third at USA outdoor championships,” Gates said. “So I'm grateful that I qualified off my first jump of the season, and it kind of took some of that pressure off, but yeah, I'm also just really grateful to make it. I think indoors is arguably harder to make than outdoor nationals.

“So I think it'll also give me confidence to qualify for my first outdoor nationals soon.”

Lawyer heads to Arkansas with the fifth fastest NCAA time this season in the 60 meters, running a program record 6.51 at the Big 12 Championships. His second-fastest run, 6.59 in the prelims at the Big 12s, is No. 16 in the country.

Last year, while at Washington State, he finished 14th in the country with a run of 6.62.

“Running that was awesome, I didn't wake up thinking I was gonna run that time so I surprised myself and probably a lot of other people as well, but it's been in the process. We had multiple practices where like the times were there,” Lawyer said. “I just had to put it down on paper at the meet where it mattered most and just having a Big 12 championship gave me the opportunity to do that throughout the year coming from a Pac-12 school.”

Lawyer said there is little margin for error in the 60 meters, but also that as long as “you got a lane, you got a chance.” The fastest 60m in the country this year was Kanyinsola Ajayi of Auburn at the SEC championships: 6.45.

Lawyer ran a 6.49 at the Big 12 meet at Texas Tech at 3,217 feet, which was converted to 6.51.

“Really, what we've been focusing on in practice is just kind of the first couple steps of the race ‘cause it's not like the 100 where you have time to build up and run up tall, it’s a lot of like everything's got to be perfect really in the 60,” Lawyer said. “So just emphasizing like the first three steps got to be as fast as I can to set up my race and just being able to run my own race, don't worry about the people left and right of me.

“It's just me in the finish line and that's what I like talked about myself during the 6.49 was like, it's just me in the finish line, no one else is here, this is like a glorified practice,” he added. “So I was able to take that and during the race, I just was able to execute and I felt like weightless running it, so when I get that sensation I'm like, ‘OK it's gonna be gonna be a good time.’”

Dubs said the Wildcats’ camaraderie “really grew each week.”

“It's a cool accomplishment because like (Dubs) said, only the top 16 make it, it’s one of the hardest track meets to get into, so just an honor to go there, I mean, we all worked hard to get there,” Lawyer said. “So it shows that we were able to put down the jumps, the throws, the time to get there when it mattered most and then maintain that spot and just, enjoyable, like it's gonna be fun.

“I'm excited, too, and I got to give it to all the teammates because we wouldn't be here without our teammates pushing us in the weight room, on the track, just in general, just being there to support each other from the stands as well,” he added. “So because when we're out there competing, you could pick out a couple people's voices here and there for the support, so it's always nice to have that when you finish a race.”

A delayed home start

Renovations to Roy P. Drachman Stadium have gone longer than expected, so the UA canceled their first two home meets: the Willie Williams Classic and Jim Click Shootout.

Willie Williams was scheduled for Mar. 27-28, and the Jim Click Shootout for Apr. 3-4. The two are set to return in 2027.

UA is now scheduled to host two regular-season home meets, the Desert Heat Classic and the Tucson Elite Classic, in May, along with the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, from May 14-16.

“So I'm excited where we're at heading into this week and don't want to look too far ahead but we're also really excited for the outdoor season as well, but we'll get through this week first,” Dubs said on Monday.