University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Qualify 15 for NCAA West Regional
5/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
AUSTIN - The Houston Cougar men's and women's track and field teams have qualified 15 individual athletes and two relay teams for the NCAA West Regional to be held Thursday, May 28 through Saturday, May 30 at Mike A. Myers stadium in Austin, Texas.
The top 48 athletes in each event from the west region, as well as the top 24 relay teams qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Round. From there, the athletes who post the 12 best times/marks as well as the 12 best relay times from each the East and West prelims will qualify for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon held from June 10-13.
Action at The NCAA West Regional kicks off on Thursday, May 28 at noon CT with the men's discus. The first Cougar will be in action at 4:30 p.m., when the first round of the women's 400m hurdles begins the running events. Houston will also see action in the first round of the women's and men's 100m dash at 6:30 p.m., and 6:55 p.m., respectively, and the first round of the men's 800m at 8:35 p.m.
Houston begins day two of the NCAA West Regional with the women's discus at noon, on Friday, May 29. Running events begin for the Cougars at 5 and 5:30 p.m., with the first round of the women's 100m hurdles, and the men's 110m hurdles respectively. The quarterfinals of the men's and women's 100m dash, as well as the 800m run and the 400m hurdles, will be held from 6:30 p.m., through 7:45 p.m. The men's shot put ends second day field action for Houston at 6 p.m., while the first round of the women's and men's 200m closes out the running for Houston on the second day at 8 and 8:25 p.m., respectively.
The final day of the NCAA West Regional will be held Saturday, May 30 and begins for the Cougars with the men's javelin at noon followed by the women's triple jump at 1:30 p.m., and the women's shot put and men's triple jump at 6 p.m. Quarterfinals of the men's and women's 4x100m relay begin the running action at 6 and 6:15 p.m., respectively, followed by the women's 100m and men's 110m hurdles at 7:05 and 7:20 p.m. Action for the Cougars concludes with the finals of the men's and women's 200m dash at 7:35 and 7:50 p.m., and the semifinal of the men's 5000m at 8:45 p.m.
COUGAR QUALIFIERS
The Cougars qualified 15 student-athletes who will compete in 17 events and each of the men's and women's 4x100m Relay teams. In all, Houston qualified four sprinters, two hurdlers, two distance runners, three jumpers, and four members of its throws team for the NCAA West Regional.
Houston's top qualifier came from the 110m hurdles as junior Issac Williams ran a 13.56 at the Mt. SAC Relays is Walnut, Calif., to qualify with the fifth fastest time in the west region. Williams will look to head back to the NCAA Championships, after qualifying in the 60m hurdles during the indoor season.
Senior Sade-Mariah Greenidge was a hurdle qualifier on the women's side, posting top-20 times in each of the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles. Greenidge ran 13.37 in the 100m hurdles at the Mt. SAC Relays to post the 18th fastest qualifying time in the west region while she posted the 19th best time in the 400m hurdles with a 58.77 to finish second at The American Outdoor Championships.
Junior sprinter LeShon Collins became the second Cougar to qualify in two separate events after clocking a 10.44 in the 100m dash at The American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships to post the 37th best time in the west region. Collins qualified for the 200m dash earlier in the season after posting a wind-aided 21.00 at the Mt. SAC Relays for the 40th best time in the west region.
Sophomore Curtis Brown also qualified for the regional in the 200m after posting a second place 21.05 at The American Outdoor Championships. Brown finished with the west region's 45th best qualifying time.
In the women's sprints sophomore Bria Carter logged the west region's 32nd fastest time in the 100m dash with an 11.59 at the Longhorn Invitational on May 2. Carter, who claimed gold in the 60m dash at the American Athletic Conference championships will be competing in her second NCAA Regional (2014; 100m, 4x100m).
Sophomore Tori Williams will also make her second NCAA Regional appearance in the 200m dash after the Plaquemine, La., native posted a 23.86 at the Longhorn Invitational. Williams finished the outdoor regular season with the 39th best time in the west region.
A pair of Cougar distance runners round out Houston's regional qualifiers in the running events as senior Drevan Anderson-Kaapa ran the west region's 38th fastest time in the 800m (1:49.92) and sophomore Brian Barraza clocked a 13:56.76 in the 5000m at the Victor Lopez Bayou Classic to post the 34th best time in the region.
Houston's top qualifier in the field events was senior Brittany Kinney who leaped 12.74m in the triple jump at The American Outdoor Championships to qualify for her second consecutive regional in the event. Kinney's mark stands as the 16th longest jump in the west region.
The Cougars will have two more student-athletes in the triple jump competition as Kinney will be joined by freshman Tony Burks (12.44m; 35th in the nation), while senior David Brown, American Athletic Conference champion in the triple jump, qualified for the men with the 23rd best mark in the nation at 15.45m.
Sophomore Jack Thomas will head to the NCAA West Regional for the second consecutive year in the javelin after his third place finish at The American Championships. Thomas set a new career best mark of 69.03m to qualify as the 17th best javelin thrower in the west region.
Senior Justine Price was the earliest Cougar to reach her qualifying mark after logging her season best in the discus in the second meet of the season at the Texas Relays. Price threw 51.11m in Austin to give her the 47th best mark in the region among discus throwers.
A pair of sophomore throwers round out the individual field for Houston as Cameron Cornelius, and A'Nease Linnear each qualified in the shot put. Cornelius's top mark came in his final throw of The American Athletic Conference championships when he recorded a toss of 17.95m to finish second. Linnear's season best also came at The American Championships, after throwing a career high 15.14m to finish sixth.
The Cougar men and women will also be represented in the relays at the NCAA West Regional after each squad qualified its 4x100m relay team. The men's team of Brown, Issac Williams, Xavier Floyd and James Arnett won the event at The American Athletic Conference Championships in 39.97 and qualified 14th in the region. The women's team of Kinney, Greenidge, Tori Williams and Kiersten Brewer posted a 45.07 at The American Championships to qualify 15th.
FOLLOW ALONG LIVE
Live results for the NCAA West Regional will be provided via Branch Sports Technology. Fans can visit BranchSportsTech.com and follow the appropriate links to find the live results, or results can be found by clicking here.
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