University of Houston Athletics
Saving His Best For Last
5/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 29, 2004
College Station, Texas - Saving his best for last seems to be something that comes quite naturally for University of Houston triple jumper Vincent Marshall.
"It does seem confusing to me sometimes," Marshall said. "But, it does seem that I do perform best on my last attempts."
Competing in just his second meet of the season, Marshall qualified to compete at the NCAA Championships on his final attempt in the triple jump at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships Saturday afternoon.
"I am so happy, I don't know what to say," Marshall said. "I know the other competitors are looking at me like I am crazy because I finished in fifth place and I am so happy with my performance. They just don't realize that this is just the second time I have competed all season."
Marshall sat out most of the 2004 outdoor season while lifting weights with the Cougar football team. He turned heads last fall when he developed into one of the most dangerous wide receivers in Conference USA.
He led the Cougars with 60 catches and ranked second on the team with 812 yards and seven touchdowns. He also ranked fifth on the team with 147 yards rushing on 14 carries.
One of his biggest catches came in the final seconds of the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. Houston was playing in its first bowl game in seven seasons and the Cougars trailed 34-27 with 22 seconds left when Kevin Kolb hit Marshall on a quick slant and Marshall turned it into an 81-yard touchdown to tie the score.
He competed in the triple jump for the first time during the outdoor season at the Conference USA Championships on May 15 and finished in second place with a leap of 50' ?" (15.25 meters). That jump also qualified him to compete at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships.
"I have had just one solid week of practice before competing today," Marshall said. "I am extremely happy to get close to 16 meters (52'4").
After he posted a jump of 50'3 ?" (15.32 meters), Marshall was worried he might not advance to the finals in the triple jump.
"I was awful in the preliminary rounds," said Marshall, who jumped in the first of two flights. "I had to sit there and watch the entire second flight hoping just to advance to the final rounds as one of the top nine jumpers."
After making the finals, Marshall took full advantage of the opportunities as he improved his marks with each of his final three jumps.
"(Assistant coach Will Blackburn) told me to open up and just run my hardest down the runway," Marshall said. "He told me that I never listened. Well, I finally listened and got some great results."
Marshall opened the three final rounds improving to 51' 6 ?" (15.71 meters) on his fourth jump. Then, he recorded a career-best leap of 51'10" (15.80 meters) on his fifth try. On his final try, he improved his career best some more to 52' 2 ?" (15.92 meters) to move into fifth place.
Marshall's previous career best came in high school when he set a Texas State record of 51'8" while winning the triple jump at the 2001 Texas Class AAAA State Championships as a junior. He finished as the runner-up in the triple jump, fourth in the long jump and sixth in the 400-meter dash as a senior at the 2002 State Championships.
This year, he returns to Austin to compete in the NCAA Championships.
"I will have two weeks to train before the NCAA meet," Marshall said. "I have shown today that I have my running down. I just need to run fast and work on each of my phases in the triple jump.
"There will be some stiff competition there," Marshall said. "We had three guys jump over 53 feet here and this is just one of four Regional Championships across the nation. You know there are going to be some other strong jumpers out of those reasons as well, so I have to really work hard and get ready."
