Complete List of Men's Qualifiers I Complete List of Women's Qualifiers

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University junior high jumper Tequan Claitt has officially punched his ticket to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
 
Claitt qualified for the NCAAs by jumping 7'3" at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships last Friday in Charleston, Illinois. His gold medal-winning performance rallied the Colonel men to their first OVC indoor title since 2008.
 
Claitt's leap of 7'3" is an indoor personal best, and it ranks No. 2 on EKU's all-time indoor high jump list.
 
The Lexington native – and graduate of Bryan Station High School – enters the national championship meet ranked No. 13 in the country.
 
The top 16 individuals in every event advance to the NCAA Indoor Championships.
 
The meet will be held March 9-10 at Texas A&M's Gilliam Indoor Stadium in College Station, Texas.
 
Claitt is EKU's first NCAA indoor qualifier since Soufiane Bouchikhi and Lydia Kosgei both made it in the 5,000 meters in 2012.
 
He will be the first EKU field athlete to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships since Angie Barker (shot put) in 1986.
 
Claitt emerged on the national scene last spring when he broke EKU's high jump record with a leap of 7'5.75". That was the top jump by an NCAA Division-I athlete and the sixth best jump by an American, at any level, in 2017.
 
He will be squaring off against the top high jumpers in the NCAA, including past national champions Trey Culver (Texas Tech / 7'7.75") and Randall Cunningham (USC / 7'5") and freshman sensation Vernon Tuner (Oklahoma / 7'7.75").

Claitt is one of only two Ohio Valley Conference athletes to qualify for the NCAA Championships, joining Eastern Illinois women's high jumper Haleigh Knapp (6'0.5").