Silhouettes of Avi'Tal Wilson-Perteete of UNLV and Samantha Huerta of Cal State Fullerton leading a women's 800m heat during the NCAA West Preliminary at Hornet Stadium. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Krishna Jayasankar Becomes First Indian Discus Thrower to Reach NCAA Championships

Originally posted on UNLV Rebels on SI
By Mark Morales-Smith | Last updated Jun 13, 2025 4:45 PM ET

Last month, at the UNLV Rebels NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship West Regionals at College Station, Texas hosted by Texas A&M, Krishna Jayasankar qualified for the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She will represent the Rebels in the discus throw. The four-day meet started on Wednesday and will take place in Eugene, Oregon at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field. She will participate in two flights of the discus throw and is scheduled to throw on Saturday at 12:30 PM local time. The events are split up with the women competing on Thursday and Saturday and the men competing on Wednesday and Friday.

One of four athletes from India competing at the 2025 @NCAATrackField DI Outdoor Championships!https://t.co/UwtfIjb8ZW https://t.co/M3zGG2bupC
— USTFCCCA (@USTFCCCA) June 13, 2025

The junior discus thrower earned her way into the NCAA Championships by finishing seventh overall in her West Regionals with a toss of 55.61m (182' 5"). Her throw broke Jessica Marable's school record of (52.27m) by a significant margin. That record had stood for 26 years and was set in 1999. She also became the first Indian thrower ever to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships with that throw.

She currently ranks 36th in the country and her best mark on the season was 55.61m (182' 5"). Jayasankar also becomes the first junior to represent the scarlet and gray in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the event since Rosa Santana did so in 2023.

The Chennai, Tamil Nadu native transferred to UNLV from UTEP following her freshman season in 2022 - 2023. She made history when she became the the first female thrower from India to receive an NCAA division one scholarship. Now she looks to make history this weekend and bring the gold medal back to Las Vegas with her.

If you want to follow along and watch Jayasankar compete, you can watch like on ESPN2 or ESPNU, and all the events will be streamed live on ESPN+.