Competing against the nation's top professional and collegiate athletes, Alexis Cooks placed 17th in the women's discus Sunday at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Individually and collectively, the 2013-14 academic year was among the best ever for our student-athletes at The University of Akron.

Miles Baldwin, Michaela Foisy, Phil Jagers, Daniella Johnson, Clayton Murphy and Becky Szabo will represent the Zips at the USA Junior Championships this weekend.

Two-time MAC champion, Clayton Murphy punched his ticket to the men's 1,500-meter finals by running a time of 3:56.91 late Friday night.

Alexis Cooks qualified in her second event while the Zips pole vault trio of Annika Roloff, Caroline Hasse and Claire Lucas also earned a trip to the NCAA Championships Friday.

The Zips track & field team will send a program-high eight qualifiers to the NCAA Outdoor Championships next month in Eugene, Ore.

Alexis Cooks and Brittany Funk each qualified for the NCAA Track & Field Championships in the hammer throw Thursday in Florida.

A program-high 28 Zips athletes will head to Jacksonville, Fla., this week for the preliminary round of the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The Zips lead all Mid-American Conference schools with 28 qualifiers for the NCAA East Preliminary Round, which will be held at North Florida University from May 29-31.

The Zips men's team crowned another individual champion as freshman Dan Zupan took the title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Friday.