Toledo, Ohio - The University of Toledo women's track and field team will be sending junior Petronela Simiuc and senior Katie Dewey to the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Fla. on Thursday-Saturday, May 23-25. 

"I feel really good about it. They're both really good athletes and worked really hard this year and obviously earned their way there," said head coach Linh Nguyen. "Katie's actually the second thrower in Toledo history that's qualified for two events. She's been doing really well this season and has a chance to throw even further down there. Petronela was here last year and made it to the quarterfinal round. I think she's in a little bit better shape and a more confident this year, so I think it's very possible for her to make through to finals in Austin, Texas. For us  to again have representation from different event groups just shows that we're a well-rounded team, and that it's possible for everybody on the team to come and achieve at a high level."

Simiuc returns to the prelims in the 1500m after placing second at the Mid-American Conference Championships with a time of 4:27.86. At last year's preliminary round, Simiuc took 20th in the quarterfinal with a time of 4:28.49. Simiuc is 10 seconds from her personal-best of 4:17.50, which she set in the first round of the prelims last season.  
 
Dewey will be competing in the shot put and discus events after leading the Rockets in the throws category. During the regular season, Dewey tallied 10 top-five performances in the shot put and discus combined. At the Hillsdale GINA Relays, Dewey posted personal-bests of 15.50m in the shot put and 49.92m in the discus to win both events. Dewey is the first Toledo thrower since Kyesha Neal in 2016 to qualify for two events at the NCAA East Prelim.
 
Forty-eight individuals for each event and 24 relay teams qualify for competition at each preliminary site. Combined events are not contested at the preliminary sites. Twelve individuals from each individual event as well as 12 relay teams will advance from both preliminary round sites to the championships. This season's NCAA Championships will be held June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.
 
2019 NCAA East Preliminary Round
Jacksonville, Fla.
Thursday, May 23 - Saturday, May 25
Toledo Schedule of Events
 
Thursday, May 23
5:30 p.m. - 1500m | First Round
Petronela Simiuc
 
Friday, May 24
12:00 p.m. - Discus | First Round
Katie Dewey
 
Saturday, May 25
5:15 p.m. - Shot Put | First Round
Katie Dewey
 
6:30 p.m. - 1500m | Quarterfinal