University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
NCAA Championships Preliminary Rounds
Eleven Cougars Qualify for NCAA Championships
5/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 28, 2011
EUGENE, Ore. - Eleven Cougars are heading to the NCAA Championships after qualifying at the NCAA Preliminaries this week. The Cougars will be represented in nine events at the national stage.
Following the successful lead up to the conclusion of Saturday's meet, five more Cougars qualified for the Championships during today's action.
"The men had a great meet," said head coach Leroy Burrell. "I'm really happy with the women who made it through as well. There weren't the best conditions for us out there but we were able to compete well out there despite all of that."
The 4x100m school-record relay team of Tai'shea Reese, Whitney Harris, Kalyn Floyd and Grecia Bolton won their heat to automatically advance in 44.21. The competition for the first place in the heat was close until a strong anchor leg by Bolton outclassed the home-crowd supported Oregon relay team. The Cougars are ranked No. 4 in the nation in the event.
Harris, Floyd and Bolton earned All-American honors last year in the event with their fifth-place finish.
Heading into Saturday's 200m finals, Bolton had already qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 100m and 4x100m but was looking to add to her event list. The junior sprinter was able to do just that as she qualified by running in 8th place en route to setting a personal-best time of 23.15.
This is the second time Bolton will head to the Championships in the 200m. She took 12th place in the event as a freshman. Bolton also made it to the NCAA Championships in the 100m last season.
"I'm excited for Grecia. She's been there before in both events but not in the same year. She has a chance to put herself at the elite level by running in multiple events at the national stage."
DeMeeka Jones qualified for her first NCAA Championships as she took 11th in the 100m hurdles. The junior from Lufkin, Texas, finished the race in 13.39.
On the men's side, the Cougars added two more entries in the other portion of the horizontal jumps, the triple, as seniors Chris Carter and Lamar Delaney placed 4th and 12th, respectively.
Carter (15.92m/52-2.75w) reached his longest mark on the third jump of the day and didn't need the final three jumps as weather conditions worsened on the track.
Delaney set a personal best in his third attempt with his 15.64m/51-3.75 distance and was sitting as the last-one-in at 12th place. He opted to give a try on his three extra jumps but a strong headwind and the heaviest rain of the day stifled the senior's attempts to increase his performance. It didn't matter as no other competitor could surpass his mark and he heads to his first NCAA Championships.
The Houston `Jump Crew' will send three different student-athletes to the NCAA Championships in the horizontal jumps (Carter, Delaney, Jonathan Williams) - tied for the most in the nation (Texas A&M, Florida, LSU).
"It's a pretty impressive group of jumpers we have here. That's one of the events you think of when you talk about the University of Houston program and I'm proud we're upholding that tradition."
The announced attendance for the three-day event set a NCAA Preliminary record of 20,082.
UP NEXT
Houston will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, for the NCAA Championships hosted by Drake University June 8-11.
NCAA QUALIFIERS
MEN
Alex Bentley (Pole Vault)
Wesley Bray (Decathlon)
Chris Carter (Triple, Long Jump)
Lamar Delaney (Triple Jump)
Jonathan Williams (Long Jump
Errol Nolan (400m)
WOMEN
Grecia Bolton (100m, 200m, 4x100m)
Whitney Harris (4x100m)
Kalyn Floyd (4x100m)
Tai'shea Reese (4x100m)
DeMeeka Jones (100m Hurdles)
| Event | Finish | |
| Men | ||
| 4x400m | Houston | (16) 3:10.09 |
| Errol Nolan, Garrett Hughey, Tyron Carrier, Doug Kelly | ||
| Triple Jump | Chris Carter Q | (4) 15.92m/52-2.75w |
| Lamar Delaney Q | (12) 15.64m/51-3.75 | |
| Thomas Lang | (20) 15.33m/50-3.5 | |
| Women | ||
| 200m | Grecia Bolton Q | (8) 23.15* |
| Whitney Harris | (17) 23.86 | |
| Tai'shea Reese | (19) 23.94 | |
| 4x100m | Houston Q | (4) 44.21 |
| Tai'shea Reese, Whitney Harris, Kalyn Floyd, Grecia Bolton | ||
| 4x400m | Houston | MARK |
| Brittany Wallace, Whitney Harris, Ciera Johnson, Kalyn Floyd | ||
| 100m Hurdles | DeMeeka Jones Q | (11) 13.39 |
| High Jump | Megan Frausto | (32) 1.65m/5-5 |
Players Mentioned
