Josh and Morgan McDonald punch tickets for NCAA championships

Saturday, May 28

Lawrence, Kan.

12 p.m.

Wisconsin Badgers

NCAA West Preliminary Round

Josh and Morgan McDonald punch tickets for NCAA championships

May 28, 2016 | Men's Track & Field

Discus thrower, distance ace qualify for their first NCAA outdoor meet

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Despite sharing the same last name, Wisconsin men's track and field student-athletes Josh and Morgan McDonald are not related and are very different people.

Josh McDonald is 6-5, is from Wentzville, Missouri, and throws the discus, while Morgan McDonald is 5-10, from Sydney, Australia, and runs the 5000 meters.

But Josh and Morgan McDonald were able share another trait on Saturday, as the duo qualified for the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships with outstanding performances at the NCAA West Preliminary Round at Rock Chalk Park.

Aussie distance ace advances in 5000 meters
Even in the indoor season, Morgan McDonald was focused excelling in the 5000 meters outdoors and advancing to the NCAA outdoor championships in the event.

Morgan McDonald was able to accomplish his goal with a second-place finish in the second heat of the men's 5000 meters, crossing the line in 14 minutes, 11.73 seconds at the NCAA West Preliminary Round.

"It feels amazing," Morgan McDonald said. "It's super validating and gratifying to achieve one of my season-long goals. Making nationals in the 5000 meters was right up there with my biggest goals for the season. I am very happy but I'm not quite done yet.

"I have big goals for nationals, and I might take it easy on Sunday, but I have some work to do before Eugene."

"When they moved the event to 2 p.m. due to weather, we knew if there was no cloud cover it would be hot and humid," UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "Due to the warm temperatures, the first heat was slow and tactical, and that's what happened later in Morgan's heat. He showed great maturity by handling the heat and the pace of the race like a savvy veteran."

The Sydney, Australia, native began the race toward the back of the pack, but with approximately 3000 meters remaining, McDonald surged into second, passing most of the field with seven laps remaining.

"The race went a little bit slower than I expected," Morgan McDonald said. "That meant that everyone was still in it, and there was a lot of hustle and bustle. I ended up towards the back a few kilometers in, so I had to go to the back and make my move all the way to the front. From there, the goal was to stay in the top five for the rest of the race."

Morgan McDonald battled for the lead up until the final kilometer as Oklahoma State's Cerake Geberkidane broke away from the lead pack.

Heading into the bell lap, Morgan McDonald and Portland's William Kincaid caught Geberkidane and the duo passed the Cowboy before Kincaid ultimately won the race in 14:09.13.

"There is a lot of pressure when the race goes out that slow when you have that many kids in the race with a few laps to go," Byrne said. "You have to keep your composure, and he was able to do that and had a great last kilometer. Credit to Morgan, he didn't freak out like a lot of kids do, and he was able to qualify."

Morgan McDonald, who competed in the 3000 meters at the NCAA indoor championships this past spring, will compete in the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships on Friday, June 10, at 9:25 p.m. CT.

Josh McDonald punches ticket in discus
Seeded 38th in the men's discus at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, sophomore Josh McDonald's chances on paper of advancing to the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships didn't look promising, as the top-12 throwers advance to the national meet.

But there's a reason why meets aren't contested on paper.

Defying the odds, Josh McDonald grabbed the 12th and final qualifying spot to the NCAA meet with a lifetime-best throw of 183 feet, 2 inches, on Saturday at Rock Chalk Park.

"Obviously I wanted to qualify to the NCAA meet, but I seeded 38th and knew it would be tough," Josh McDonald. "But I came out and threw a personal best and that was good enough to advance."

"We're very happy for Josh," UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "He's worked hard all year and battled through some adversity to earn a spot at the big dance. To do it while competing in the first flight was commendable as he didn't have the luxury of competing with the guys in the final flight who came into the competition with the best marks of the meet."

Placed in the first of three flights that were seeded worst to best, Josh McDonald threw 169-4 on his first attempt before fouling his second opportunity.

Josh McDonald unleashed his personal-best effort on his final throw of the competition to win his flight of 16 throwers, but then had to wait two hours for the other 32 athletes to compete.

After the second flight, Josh McDonald was in fourth, but needed to finish ahead of eight of the final 16 competitors from the third and final heat.

Heading into the final round of throws in the third flight, Josh McDonald was in 12th, where he would ultimately stay to earn his first berth to an NCAA championship.

"It was definitely the most stressful two flights of my throwing career," Josh McDonald said. "I knew I had to win my flight, and after the second flight I was still in a good position. The third flight was very stressful and it came down to the last round before I knew I would be able to advance."

"I'm happy to represent Wisconsin at the NCAA meet and will compete to the best of my ability. Postseason meets are the icing on the cake and I will prepare the best that I can."

Josh McDonald will compete at the national meet on Friday, June 10 at 7:05 p.m.

Riley Budde came close to joining the McDonalds at the NCAA meet, as Budde finished 14th in the shot put with a toss of 60-8.

In the 200 meters, Lorenzo Larry finished 31st in 21.25, while Ryan Davis clocked in at 21.45 to place 38th.

Freshman Dairius Ragland made his NCAA preliminary debut, where he finished 37th in the 110 hurdles in 14.51.

Josh and Morgan McDonald will be joining Brandon Mortensen (decathlon), Austin Mudd (800 meters) and Zach Ziemek (decathlon) at the NCAA championships.