University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
NCAA Indoor Championships
Houston Qualifies Three for NCAA Finals
3/9/2018 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
HOUSTON â€" The Houston Cougar Men's Track & Field team qualified all three of its sprinters in the preliminary rounds to Saturday's final on the first day of the NCAA Indoor Championships, on Friday, in College Station, Texas.
ABOUT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday's competition begins with the final three events of the men's heptathlon, kicking off at noon. Individual final round action starts with the mile at 4:10 p.m., Saturday. A full schedule of events can be found by clicking HERE.
Each day of the NCAA Indoor Championships will air live courtesy of the ESPN Family of Networks via Watch ESPN. The final day coverage, begins at 4 p.m., and can be seen by clicking HERE. A tape-delay broadcast of the Championships will air on ESPN2 on Sunday, March 11, beginning at 6 p.m.
Live results will also be available for each day of the meet, courtesy of Flash Results and the NCAA. To access live results, click HERE.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior sprinter Elijah Hall was one of just two athletes to advance to Saturday's final in two separate sprint events. Hall opened his day with the second-fastest overall qualifying time in the 60-meter dash after running a personal best 6.56 to win the first heat. Hall's time gives him the second-fastest time in program history.
The Katy, Texas, native returned to close the first day of the NCAA Indoor Championships by qualifying in the 200-meter dash. Running in the third heat, Hall slowed as he crossed the line, and still broke his own school record in the event to win the heat in 20.21. Hall's record is the sixth fastest time in NCAA Championship history and qualified him No. 1 overall for the final.
Hall's qualification marks the third consecutive season the Cougars have landed a sprinter in the finals of the 60-meter dash. Hall will run the 60-meter dash final at 4:30 p.m., Saturday before returning for the finals of the 200-meter dash at 5:50 p.m.
Junior sprinter Kahmari Montgomery also punched his ticket to Saturday's final, with the fifth fastest overall time in the 400-meter dash. Montgomery crossed the line second in the first heat of the event in 45.81 to book a berth in the final. Montgomery becomes the first Cougar since Errol Nolan won the event in 2013 to qualify for the 400 final.
Montgomery will compete in the finals of the 400-meter dash at 4:50 p.m., Saturday.
Hall and Montgomery's qualifications mean that Houston will be the only team in the NCAA to have a sprinter in each of the three indoor sprint events (60m, 200m and 400m).
Sophomore Nathaniel Mechler began the opening day of the NCAA Indoor Championships with the first four events of the men's heptathlon. Mechler opened his first championship meet with personal bests in each of the 60-meter dash and the long jump, running 7.07 to finish 11th and score 858 points in the race, before leaping 24-6.5 (7.48m) to score 930 points in the horizontal jump.
Mechler would wrap the afternoon with a pair of 13th place finishes in the shot put and high jump events. Mechler threw the shot 40-7.75 (12.39m) to score 630 points, before going up-and-over the high jump bar at 6-4.0 (1.93m) to pick up 740 points. The American Champion in the heptathlon finished day one with 3,158 points and enters the final three events on Saturday in 11th overall.
The final three events of the heptathlon consist of the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run with the hurdle race kicking off at noon on Sunday.
ALSO ON SATURDAY
Hall and Montgomery will join a combination of juniors Amere Lattin and Mario Burke, and freshman Quivell Jordan in the final race of the indoor championships, the 4x400-meter relay. Houston's squad broke the school record twice this season and posted the fourth-fastest time in the nation, when they ran 3:04.18 to win the Tyson Invitational.
A top-5 time in the 4x4 relay makes Houston the only program in the nation to have a top-5 time in each of the indoor sprint categories. The men's 4x4 will wrap the meet on Saturday in Heat 4 beginning at 6:40 p.m.
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Players Mentioned
