Rushin qualifies for NCAA national track and field meet

Former Jackson High School standout Jill Rushin, a redshirt freshman at Missouri, qualified for the NCAA track and field championships with a 12th-place finish in the shot put at the West Regional meet Thursday at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.

Rushin threw 52 feet, 3 3/4 inches to qualify. Rushin is a 2010 graduate of Jackson.

The top 12 in each event earn a trip to next month's national meet in Des Moines, Iowa.

Senior Josh Uchtman was the top finisher among three Southeast Missouri State athletes competing in the men's shot put. Uchtman finished 20th with a throw of 57-6 1/4. Kevin Farley (29th, 56-3) and Craig Robinson (37th, 54-10) also fell short of the national meet.

A total of nine Southeast athletes are competing at the three-day meet.

-- From staff reports