TOWSON, Md. – Four members of the Towson University women's track and field team were selected to the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships East Preliminary championships. The list of official participants was announced Thursday afternoon.
 
Senior Phontavia Sawyer, junior Michella Obijiaku, junior Shelby Francis and freshman Hayley Horvath were each selected to the East Preliminary which will be hosted at The University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida May 23-25.
 
Sawyer (discus) and Obijiaku (shot put) qualified for the second-straight year while Horvath (pole vault) and Francis (400-meter hurdles) will be making their first appearances at NCAA East Prelims.
 
To qualify for the prelims, student-athletes must rank in the top 48 of their event in their respective region.
 
"NCAA's is always our goal and it's great to have four representatives locked in for the first round," Towson head coach Mike Jackson said. "We are ready. Each of them had their own specific story and I'm glad it's all culminated in success."
 
Francis, Horvath and Obijiaku are Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champions in their respective events. They all enter the NCAA East Prelims ranked No. 1 overall in the conference. Sawyer is second in the CAA in the discus. They helped Towson enjoy lots of team success during the outdoor season as the Tigers finished second at the CAA and ECAC championships.
 
Competing last year for South Alabama, Obijiaku finished 45th overall in the shot put after a toss of 14.24 meters (46-8.75). She enters the championships ranked 22nd in the East region with a top performance this season of 16.23 meters (53-3), which was a CAA meet and school record. Obijiaku won the shot put at the Doc Anderson Invitational, Towson Invitational and Hopkins Loyola Invitational
 
Sawyer, who was named CAA Field Athlete of the Week on April 29, competed in the shot put at last year's NCAA East Preliminaries. She finished 43rd overall with an effort of 14.61 meters (47-11.25). This year, Sawyer will be throwing the discus and she enters the championships ranked 35th in the East Region. Her best effort was at the Penn Relays when she established a school record with a performance of 50.85 meters (166-10).
 
Tied for 23rd in the East heading into the championships, Horvath is the school record holder in the pole vault, setting the school standard of 4.10 meters (13-5.25) at the CAA Championships. Horvath was named CAA Field Athlete Of The Week on April 2 and 9. She also won the pole vault at the Penn Relays, Morgan State Legacy Meet, Towson Invitational and Maryland Invitational.

Francis qualified for the East prelims in the 400-meter hurdles after posting a time of 59.11 seconds at the CAA championships. It's the second fastest time in school history and a personal best performance for Francis.  The CAA champion in the event, she is 26th in the East.

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. 
 
The top 12 qualifiers in each event out of the East and West prelims will compete in the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.