Four more headed to NCAA championships

Four area track athletes were added Tuesday to the guest list for next week’s NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif.

Tamara Diles and Drew Ulrick of Washington State, Zach Guydish of Eastern Washington and Tassie Souhrada of Idaho were selected on the basis of their rank on the national performance lists in their respective events.

The top five finishers at each of four regional meets last weekend advanced to the NCAA meet. Event fields – between 26 and 29 deep – were filled with athletes who finished among the top eight, but ranked high enough on the season-best lists.

Diles was added in the pole vault, where her best of 13 feet, 7 1/4 inches is ninth nationally. Ulrick, a sophomore from Mead, will compete in the discus, Guydish in the javelin and Souhrada in the high jump. They’ll join 10 other area athletes who qualified with top-five placements, and multi-eventers Darion Powell, Julie Pickler and Diana Pickler of WSU and Jereme Richardson and Manuela Kurrat of Idaho, who also qualified via the season’s best list.

Another local athlete, Chelsea Smith of Mt. Spokane and BYU, qualified in the 10,000 meters.