The NCAA west and east preliminary rounds brought mixed results with several historic performances as well as surprising defeats on the way to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Here is a rundown of the most shocking results from the first round. 

Fred Kerley broke the collegiate record

It's not entirely shocking that Texas A&M's Fred Kerley broke the collegiate record. The NCAA indoor champion came within 0.09 seconds of Quincy Watts' 44.00 collegiate record when he ran 44.09 at the SEC Championships two weeks earlier. What is shocking about Kerley's NCAA west performance is the fact that he SHATTERED the record with the seventh-fastest run all-time. 



With no competitors in sight, Kerley stormed the homestretch of Mike A. Myers Stadium with the victory in 43.70, breaking Watts' 25-year-old record by 0.30 seconds. Watts, now an assistant coach at USC, watched his record go down and congratulated Kerley after his stunning performance. 

Thank you mr 1992 Thank you father God for this one right here pic.twitter.com/4gVwb5vdw1

— Fred Kerley (@fkerley99) May 27, 2017

After the open 400m, Kerley returned to compete in the Aggies' 4x400m relay where he blasted a 43.35 split to end the weekend in Austin, TX. 

Christian Coleman ran NCAA No. 2 all-time 

Christian Coleman didn't necessarily need to do anything special to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The collegiate leader and NCAA champion could have put forth a conservative effort to qualify for finals, but instead, Coleman nearly broke the collegiate record. 

In the 200m quarterfinal at NCAA east, Coleman clocked 19.85 with a -0.5 headwind to win his section with the second-fastest 200m in collegiate history. The NCAA record of 19.69 set by Walter Dix in 2007 was in serious jeopardy with Coleman on the track. Coleman's time catapults him above fellow Tennessee sprint legend Justin Gatlin, whose 19.86 collegiate best stood as an NCAA record for five years. 

Emmanuel Korir split 43.34, Fred Kerley split 43.35 on 4x400m

After Kerley split 43.35 on his 4x400m relay leg in section one of NCAA west, UTEP's Emmanuel Korir raised the standard with a come-from-behind effort to split 43.34 on the anchor leg of section three. Korir received the baton in sixth-place, well behind race leaders Iowa, but battled his way past competing teams to bring the Miners a runner-up finish in 3:03.14. Korir qualified in the 800m with a 1:45 winning time and won't face Kerley in the open 400m sprint, but the relay splits are building for a much anticipated dual in the 4x400m relay at NCAAs. 

Collegiate record-holders Oregon got disqualified

The Oregon 4x100m relay has experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows during the 2017 outdoor season. Heading into the NCAA west preliminary round, the Ducks shared the collegiate record with LSU after breaking the previous mark with a 42.12 performance at the Mt. SAC Relays. Unfortunately, disaster struck in Austin when the team was disqualified for a lane violation out of zone two, preventing a rematch at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with the co-collegiate record-holders. 



After the disqualification, Olympian and key relay contributor Deajah Stevens addressed the disappointment with poise. 

NCAA champion Hannah Cunliffe didn't compete

The Oregon women's team took another unfortunate hit when NCAA champion Hannah Cunliffe didn't compete in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. Cunliffe, who suffered from a severe case of the flu earlier this season, was absent from the starting line at the NCAA west preliminary round. Head Coach Robert Johnson said the 60m NCAA champion was unable to compete due to a tight hamstring. 

It's the second time in the past two seasons that Cunliffe has been sidelined at the NCAA Championships due to hamstring issues. She pulled up during the NCAA preliminary round of the 100m in Eugene last year. 

Despite the disappointing injury, Cunliffe has already made her mark as one of the most impressive sprinters in NCAA history.

Some key players got knocked out of title contention

Defending NCAA high jump champion Randall Cunningham failed to advance when he missed his attempts at 2.15m, which put him at a tie for 14th overall. The USC Trojan passed at the opening height of 2.00m, cleared 2.05m and 2.10m, but didn't clear 2.15m. 

Stanford's Elise Cranny will not be returning to Eugene after finishing 11th in her quarterfinal heat of the 1500m. Cranny was the top returner from last year after finishing runner-up to Marta Freitas at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She holds a season's best of 4:11, which is the third-fastest time in the country. 

Justine Kiprotich was advanced to quarterfinal after forgetting his bib number

When Michigan State's Big 10 champion showed up to compete in the first round of the men's 1500m at NCAA east, he forgot his bib number and was barred from racing. However, the officials later advanced him through to the quarterfinal--likely after learning of his pedigree. On the final day of NCAA east, Kiprotich won his heat in 3:46 and punched his ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.