UD sends two track and field athletes to NCAA championships for first time

Bogues will compete in the event for the second time after finishing 11th as a sophomore in 2021. Johnson is the first UD freshman to qualify for the national meet.

“I think it’s going to be exciting,” Bogues said. “I know when I walked into Hayward Field for the first time, my jaw literally dropped, so I’m excited to see what (Johnson’s) reaction to it is because I’ve never seen a track stadium so big and so nice.”

“This opportunity means so much to me,” Johnson said. “I feel like it’s every track athlete’s dream to make it to Hayward Field. So it’s so exciting and it’s still setting in that I’m going to Oregon.”

Bogues and Johnson are the third and fourth UD athletes to compete at the NCAA championships:

• Emily Borchers finished 24th in the steeplechase in 2019.

• Mallory Barnes competed in the hammer throw in 2010 (19th place) and 2011 (18th place).

Bogues, of Red Bank, N.J., and Middletown North High School, qualified with a throw of 48.29 meters (158 feet, 5 inches) at the NCAA East Regional in Lexington, Ky., on May 23. She finished 12th.

In her last appearance at the NCAA championship meet, Bogues broke her own school record on her first throw with a distance of 53.39. She set the previous record of 51.28 at the Atlantic 10 Conference championship meet that season.

Bogues set the school record of 53.80 at the Texas Relays on March 31, 2023.

It took Bogues three years to get back to the national meet in part because she missed the 2022 track season with an ankle injury. She suffered the injury at the Olympic Trials in 2021. She didn’t know the extent of the injury at first, but over time, it got worse.

“I slipped on the runway a little bit when I was there,” she said. “I kind of ignored the injury. I finally got it looked at, and they said, ‘Oh yeah, your ankle’s pretty messed up right now.’”

Bogues underwent her first ankle reconstruction surgery in January 2022 and another one that summer. She didn’t start throwing again until the fall of 2022.

Last season, Bogues finished first (48.56) in the A-10 championships but 47th (39.99) in the NCAA East Regional.

Bogues feels good about the way she’s throwing heading into the national meet. Her event starts at 9:45 p.m. ET Thursday. She’s one of 24 competitors. The top qualifying throw is 58.72.

“I feel more explosive and more powerful than ever,” Bogues said, “so I feel like we’re in a good place now and hopefully I’m able to go and show up and make the Dayton community proud.”

Johnson, of Tulsa, Okla., and Booker T. Washington High School, qualified for the national meet with a 12th-place finish at the regional meet. She tied for 12th with a jump of 6.16 (20 feet, 2 inches) but advanced with a tie-breaking jump of 5.99.

“It took my third attempt to get that spot because they took it by the average,” she said. “It was a nail-biter. I’m glad I could pull through.”

Johnson owns a personal-best of 6.32. She set that earlier this season at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational in Cincinnati. She finished second at the A-10 championships with a jump of 6.0.

At the regional meet, Johnson was one of 48 athletes competing for 12 spots in the national meet. She was seeded 18th.

“I tried to stay pretty confident,” she said. “Anything can happen. But it was just so surreal.”

Johnson’s event starts at 10 p.m. ET Thursday.

Johnson attended UD so she could be close to her family. She found out in May of her senior year in high school the family would be moving from Oklahoma to Cleveland.

“I’m super close to my family,” she said. “I knew I didn’t want to be too far away from them.”