SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Little Rock track and field's Charles Okeze secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Outdoor West Preliminary on Friday night at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State.
Needing to earn a top-three finish in his heat to advance to the quarterfinals, Okeze placed second with a time of 20.78. Of the 48 total runners competing on Friday, Okeze's time placed seventh overall.
Okeze is the third Trojan since 2012 to reach the national quarterfinals in an outdoor track event. Dez Mapps reached the quarterfinals in the 200 last year while Demond Burns did the same in 2012.