University of Houston Athletics
Houston Learns Regional Qualifiers
5/17/2018 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
HOUSTON â€" With conference championships in the rearview mirror, the Houston Cougar Men's and Women's Track & Field teams learned their regional qualifiers for the NCAA West Regional, to be held May 24-26 in Sacramento, Calif.
Houston will send 26 student-athletes to compete in 32 events as well as each of the men's and women's 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay squads. Qualifying student-athletes look to finish among the top-12 in each respective event to qualify for the NCAA Championships in June.
Alongside regional qualifiers, Houston learned that sophomore Nathaniel Mechler has booked his trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships after finishing the season with the sixth-best point total in the men's decathlon. Mechler scored 7,722 points at the Bryan Clay Invitational to earn an automatic-qualifying berth for ranking in the top-12 in the region.
The Cougars saw seven sprinters qualify for the West Regional in the 100-meter dash, including five from the men's side. Juniors Mario Burke and John Lewis III enter tied for the eighth-best time in the West after Burke ran 10.13 to win The American Championship, and Lewis III clocked the same mark at the Prairie View A&M Relays earlier this season.
Seniors Elijah Hall and Cameron Burrell enter the regional with the No. 12 and No. 13 times, respectively. Hall, the NCAA Indoor Champion in the 60- and 200-meter dashes, ran 10.23 at The American Championships, while Burrell, the back-to-back silver medalist at the NCAA Outdoor meet, ran 10.26 in Cincinnati.
Freshman Nicholas Alexander punched his first ticket to the Regional meet with the 36th-best time in the West in the 100, when he ran 10.39 at the Tom Tellez Invitational.
Brianne Bethel will represent the women's sprinters after qualifying in each of the 100- and 200-meter dashes. At the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships, Bethel ran 11.20 in the 100 and 22.74 in the 200 to win gold in each event. Bethel's times are No. 11 and No. 7 in the West Region, respectively.
Despite running in just one meet for Houston this season, freshman Tristan Evelyn's fifth-place time of 11.57 in the 100 at The American Championships gave her the 42nd-best time in the region to book her first trip to Regionals.
Hall, Burke and Alexander will each return later in the Regional, where they will be in action in the 200. Hall holds the No. 2 time in the West this season after running 20.11 at the Texas Relays, while Burke ran 20.48 at The American Championships to sit eighth, and Alexander's 20.84 from the Tom Tellez Invitational places him 31st.
American Champion Kahmari Montgomery will represent the Cougars in the quarter-mile in Sacramento. The NCAA Indoor 400-meter dash All-American posted the fourth-best time in the regional this year, when he broke the school record in 44.91 at the Mt. SAC Relays.
Cameron Laverty booked his first berth in the NCAA West Regional with the 45th-best time this season in the 800-meter run. Laverty finished the two-lap race in 1:49.88 at the LSU Invitational to post the qualifying time.
The Cougars will see four athletes enter the hurdles competition at the West Regional, where Amere Lattin will enter with top-10 times in each of the 110- and 400-meter hurdle events. Lattin ran 13.72 in the straight-track event at the Texas Relays to hold the sixth-fastest time while booking the ninth-best time in the full-lap hurdle race at 50.23 at The American Championships.
Freshman Quivell Jordan makes his first trip to the Regional after posting a time of 51.11 in the 400 hurdles at the Victor Lopez Classic to rank No. 25 in the West.
The women saw freshman Naomi Taylor and sophomore Birexus Hawkins post regional-qualifying times in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles, respectively. Taylor took silver at The American Championships with her season-best time of 13.38, while Hawkins won American Conference gold with a mark of 57.56.
Senior Brian Barraza rounds out Houston's competitors on the track, as he represents the distance crew in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The school-record holder in the event, Barraza clocked his season-best time of 8:41.58 at the Victor Lopez Classic earlier this season before claiming The American Championship in the event Friday.
The Cougars also qualified each of its men's and women's 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay squads for the regional meet. The men are the defending NCAA Champions in the 4x1 and enter ranked No. 4 in the region at 38.92, while the 4x4 squad ran 3:01.82 at the Penn Relays to sit second.
The women clocked each of their qualifying times in the relays a week ago, when they won American Championships in both events. The women circled the track in the 4x1 in 44.46 to sit 10th in the West, while the 4x4 squad ran 3:36.51 to rank 15th.
Four long jumpers will represent the Cougars in Sacramento, including each of the men's and women's American Champions in Jared Kerr and Samiyah Samuels. Kerr enters with the fourth-best mark in the region this season at 26-8.5 (8.14m), while Samuels ranks 14th at 20-9.25 (6.33m). Each of their marks came en route to winning gold at the conference championships meet.
Trumaine Jefferson and Antwan Dickerson will also compete in the long jump at regionals, entering with the No. 16 and No. 21 marks, respectively. Jefferson set his best of 25-6.75 (7.79m) at the American Championships, while Dickerson's best came at the Texas Relays in 25-5.25 (7.75m).
Senior Tonye'cia Burks will also represent Houston in the horizontal jumps, where she will enter with the region's 18th-best triple jump mark. Burks leapt 42-8.25 (13.01m) to win The American Championships in the event and posted a season-best last weekend.
The Cougars will be well represented by their throwers in Sacramento, led by Nora Monie who punched her ticket in each of the shot put and discus competitions. Monie holds the 25th-best throw in the shot put this season at 52-11.5 (16.14m), while her mark of 171-6 (52.27m) in the discus ranks her 35th.
Felipe Valencia will represent the men in the shot put after posting the 14th-best mark this season at 61-4.25 (18.70m) to take the silver at The American Championships, while for the women, freshman Priscilla Adejokun makes her first trip to the Regional with the 42nd-best mark at 50-4.0 (15.34m).
Taylor Scaife will represent the Cougars at the West Regional for the second-straight year in the women's hammer throw. The school-record holder in the event marked 204-7 (62.37m) at the Texas Invitational to set her personal best.
Jack Thomas will also represent Houston's throws squad at the Regional, where he will enter with a top-10 mark in the javelin. Thomas' throw of 234-10 (71.58m) at the Cougar Spring Break Invitational is second in school history and ranks ninth on the Regional list this season.
The Cougars will also have two representatives in the vertical leaps after Colin George qualified in the high jump and freshman Ben Percefull qualified in the pole vault. Percefull enters with the 30th-best mark in the region this year after clearing the bar at 17-0.75 (5.20m) at the Texas Invitational, while George went up-and-over the high jump bar at 6-10.75 (2.10m) at the Victor Lopez Classic.
A full list of qualifiers for each of the NCAA West and East Regionals can be found by clicking HERE.
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