AUSTIN, Texas - Prairie View A&M junior triple jumper Preston Woodard punched his ticket to nationals for the second season as he qualified for the upcoming NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Competing against the top jumpers in the western half of the country, Woodard had his work cut out for him as it took four jumps for him to achieve the eighth-place mark of 51-10.5. He began the afternoon with a jump of 50-11 but failed to surpass that mark in his second and third attempts.  On his fourth jump, Woodard put forth his best jump of the day with the 51-10.5 before sweating it out in his final two attempts to move on.

When Woodard touches down in Eugene, Ore. on June 5, he'll be one of the most experienced participants there as he's a two-time national participant in the indoor championship while also competing in last year's outdoor national meet in Des Moines, Ia. 

“My expectation is for Preston to medal this year,” said head coach Chris Clay.  “He has been through this before so he knows what he has to work on in order to be successful as this will be his fourth championship appearance.”

Woodard will have plenty of time to prepare as the triple jump doesn't begin until the final day of the national championship.  He's scheduled to jump at 2:30 p.m. CST on Saturday, June 8 at Hayward Field.   

Also participating in last weekend's regional preliminary was sophomore Jordan Powell.  Powell gained valuable experience in the 200 on the national stage as he ran a time of 21.9 in the preliminary round.