NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Three members of the Yale men's track and field will compete at the upcoming NCAA East First Round meet Wednesday and Friday at Kentucky. This meet determines who advances to the NCAA Championships, which take place June 10 and 12 at Oregon's Hayward Field.
 
Senior Owen Karas (Columbus, Ohio) will compete in the 5K. Junior Nathan Lebowitz (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) will compete in the discus throw. Senior Nolan Recker (Muscatine, Ill.) will compete in the hammer throw.
 
Here is a look at Yale's competitors:
 
Owen Karas
5000m

• Semifinals Friday 8:10 p.m.
  (Top 12 advance to Eugene)

 
Karas enters with the 47th best time among 5K competitors at the East First Round, based on his school-record time of 13:47.74 at the Wake Forest Invitational on Apr. 17.
 
This will be Karas' third time competing at the NCAA East First Round. Last year in the 1500m in Jacksonville, Fla., he advanced from the prelims with a time of 3:40.48 (17th overall) and finished 24th in the semifinals with a time of 3:50.02. In 2024 in the 1500m at Kentucky, he advanced from the prelims with a time of 3:43.37 (18th overall) and finished 13th in the semifinals with a time of 3:40.22.
 
Karas competed in the NCAA Championships in cross country this past fall. He is a graduate of St. Charles High School.
 
Nathan Lebowitz
Discus

• First Round Friday 1:00 p.m.
  (Top 12 advance to Eugene)

 
Lebowitz enters with the 43rd best mark among discus throw competitors at the East First Round, based on his throw of 54.71m at the Ivy League Heptagonal Track and Field Championships on May 16 at Princeton. That throw ranks him fifth on Yale's all-time list. The school record is 59.64m, set by Matt Appel '24 in 2023.
 
This will be Lebowitz' second time competing at the NCAA East First Round. Last year, in Jacksonville, Fla., he placed 38th with a mark of 50.34m.
 
Lebowitz is a graduate of Ponte Vedra High School.
 
Nolan Recker
Hammer Throw

• First Round Wednesday 9:00 a.m.
  (Top 12 advance to Eugene)

 
Recker enters with the 45th best mark among hammer throw competitors at the East First Round, based on his throw of 62.59m at the Ivy League Heptagonal Track and Field Championships on May 16 at Princeton. That throw ranks him second on Yale's all-time list, trailing only the mark of 69.55m set by Jim Driscoll '87 in 1987.
 
This will be Recker's first time competing at the NCAA East First Round. 
 
Recker is a graduate of Muscatine High School.