The Western Illinois men's track and field team will be represented by Richard Brown at the NCAA West Regional Championships held in Sacramento this week. Brown competes in the 800 meters in hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Divsion-I National Championships in Austin, Texas on June 7-10, 2023. The junior 800 meter star returns to this meet after competing here during his freshman campaign in 2021. 

Brown faces stiff competition from the west region. To qualify for the NCAA Championships he will have to compete in two rounds, on May 24th at 9:50 p.m. CST and May 26th at 9:05 p.m. CST. The first round consists of 48 student-athletes broken into six different heats of eight. The top-3 finishers from each heat plus the next six fastest times go to round two. During the second round, 24 student-athletes are broken into three heats of eight. The top-3 finishers of each heat and the next three fastest times earn the NCAA Championship berth. 

"Richard has put in a lot of hard work this year. He's a talented runner as well. He's earned this trip to the NCAA West Regional Championships and we look forward to seeing how well he can do," coach Trey Brokaw said. "The Regional Championships are very exciting because the top-48 student-athletes in each event, regardless of their marks during the season, all have a chance to qualify for the National Championships. Like college basketball's March Madness, small schools and big schools converge to see who wants it more. It's highly competitive and anything can happen."

In 2021 Richard Brown placed 38th overall, while teammate and fellow Jamaican 800 meter star, Ackeen Colley finished ninth overall, but was the first person out of nationals on the time qualifier. Brown will race not only to improve on his own 2021 placing, but looks to put himself in the coveted group of student-athletes punching their ticket to the NCAA Championships.