RENO, Nev. – Nevada track and field's 4x400 meter relay squad made up of Emily Costello, Halyn Senegal, Annalies Kalma, and Carolyn Ross are set to begin competition at the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas Thursday evening in the semifinal of the 4x400 meter relay, the first time in Nevada school history that a relay team has made it to the championships, rounding out what has been a successful and historic season.    
 
The squad finished up the NCAA West Preliminaries in Sacramento, California two weeks ago, qualifying for the opportunity to represent Nevada on the big stage after finishing in the top 12 in the event to move on to the final in Austin. With their time of 3:33.85, the quad not only broke the school record by two seconds, breaking the record for the third consecutive time this season, but they also became the first 4x400 meter relay team to ever qualify for the championships in school history. 
 
To punch your ticket to the championships, you must be in the top 12 from each region by being among the top three fastest times in the respective heat, or running the next six fastest times overall, the odds working out in the Wolf Pack's favor after finishing fourth in the first of three heats at the preliminaries, and beating out the fifth overall time ran in the third and final heat ran by the University of Utah who finished with a 3:35.00. 
 
Traditionally, Nevada qualifies a handful of athletes to the NCAA Preliminaries every season but in recent years, Nevada Track and Field's most decorated athlete of all time, 8x All-American Nicola Ader, qualified individually for the NCAA Championships (both indoor and outdoor) between the years of 2019-2022, with the outdoor championships in 2021 canceled due to Covid. Before Ader, the last individual qualifier was Nicole Wadden in 2017 competing in the heptathlon, placing ninth overall. 
 
Regarding a relay event, the last time a relay team has represented Nevada at the NCAA Preliminaries was back in 2013 with the 4x100 meter relay team of Samantha Calhoun, Angelica Earls, Tanisha Hawkins, and Kashae Knox, finishing 21^st and receiving All-America Honorable Mention, ultimately ending their season at the preliminaries. 
 
The Wolf Pack will be the only mid-major school in the country to be represented in the event, racing among the biggest names in collegiate track and field. In the West Preliminaries, Arkansas finished first, leading the field with a time of 3:25.95, with Florida coming out on top in the East Preliminaries with a time of 3:31.33. Overall, Nevada ranks 20^th out of the 24 teams that qualified from the West and the East Preliminaries. 
 
The 4x400 meter relay will be the last event of the evening on Thursday, June 8, beginning at 8:48 p.m. PT / 10:48 p.m. CT. To watch live broadcasted on ESPN+, click the link HERE.
 
To follow live results throughout the evening, click HERE.