Ohio State redshirt sophomore sprinter Kendall Sheffield (middle) competes in the 60m with teammates Nick Gray (right) and senior Zack Bazile (left) during a meet in the French Field House on Feb. 16. Credit: Ethan Clewell | Lantern Reporter

The Ohio State track and field teams will send nine athletes will be starting spring break early with a trip to College Station, Texas, for the NCAA indoor national championship Friday.

Senior Zack Bazile currently has the farthest long jump in the country at 8.14 meters. Bazile is the only athlete in the NCAA to jump farther than eight meters twice.

This is Bazile’s first time going to the indoor national championship. Bazile has gone to the NCAA outdoor championship every season of his collegiate career.

Senior Nicholas Demaline will be return to the NCAA indoor championships in shot put. Last season Demaline finished sixth at this meet. This year, he is coming in with the fifth-farthest throw in the NCAA at 20.24 meters.

Junior Nick Gray is tied for the second-fastest collegiate time in the 200-meter dash at 20.45 seconds. Gray is tied with South Carolina’s senior Ncincilili Titi.

Junior Sade Olatoye qualified with the fourth best weight throw in the NCAA at 23.84 meters and has faced off against the top three weight throwers in the country at least once. Olatoye finished fourth last year and will be facing off against the defending national champion, Cincinnati’s Annette Echikunwoke.

Olatoye also qualified in shot put as the top-ranked Big Ten thrower.

The Ohio State men’s 4×400-meter-relay team made up of sophomore Asa Burke, Gray, senior Drelan Bramwell and freshman Andre Jeff will also make the trip to Texas. The team broke the school record with a time of 3:05.09 at the Big Ten Championship meet.

Senior Maggie Berrie qualified in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.82 seconds and also grabbed a spot down at College Station. She qualified by a very thin margin, while Tennessee Tech’s D’Airrien Jackson did not qualify with a time of 52.84 seconds.

Senior Cole Gorski qualified in pole vault with a jump of 5.47 meters, set at the Music City Challenge earlier this month. Gorski was tied for 16th place, the last spot to qualify.

Junior Coty Cobb was just one spot below Gorski and barely missed the cut.