Houston Ready for NCAA West Regional

5/23/2018 3:04:00 PM | Track and Field

Cougars open three-day meet with berth to nationals on the line

HOUSTON – Fresh off sweeping the 2018 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships, the Houston Cougar Men's and Women's Track & Field teams take the next step towards the NCAA Championships, with the NCAA West Regional, to be held across May 24-26 in Sacramento, Calif.

ABOUT THE NCAA WEST REGIONAL
The West region's top 48 student-athletes in each individual event, as well as the top-24 teams in the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays converge at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State with a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships on the line.

Action for Houston kicks off both in the field and on the track at 6:30 p.m. CT Thursday, with the first round of the men's 400-meter hurdles and the women's shot put. The first day of action wraps at 10:10 p.m. CT, with the first round of the men's 800-meter run.

Friday's running also kicks off at 6:30 p.m. CT, with the first round of the 110-meter hurdles, while qualifying athletes from Thursday will compete in the quarterfinals of the 400- and 100-meter dashes as well as the 800-meter run and 400-meter hurdles. Houston will compete in just one field event on Friday, the women's discus at 6:30 p.m. CT.

The relays will hit the track for the first time on the final day of the meet on Saturday. The men's and women's 4x100-meter relays kick off action at 8 p.m. CT, while the 4x400-meter relays will conclude competition at 11:45 p.m. CT. Saturday will be packed full of field event action for Houston with the women's hammer throw and men's javelin opening the day at 2 p.m. CT, and the men's shot put and women's triple jump wrapping up field events at 6:30 p.m. CT.

FOLLOW THE REGIONAL LIVE
For the first time in history, all three days of the NCAA West Regional can be streamed live courtesy of FloTrack. The live stream for each day can be found by clicking HERE, and a fee is required to access the stream.

Live results will also be made available courtesy of the NCAA. Access to the live results can be found by clicking HERE.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR ON THURSDAY
Action begins in the hurdles for Houston at the NCAA West Regional, where junior Amere Lattin will make his third-straight regional appearance. Lattin will compete in two events on the weekend, but will debut in the 400-meter hurdles alongside freshman Quivell Jordan. Lattin booked the ninth-fastest time in the region this season at 50.23, while Jordan enters 25th at 51.11.

Sophomore Birexus Hawkins will make her first trip to the regionals after winning The American Championship in the 400 hurdles. Hawkins booked a season-best 57.56 in Cincinnati to earn her regional berth.

Five Cougars will be on the track for the men's 100-meter dash, opening with John Lewis III in the first heat. Lewis III and, American Champion in the 100- and 200-meter dash, Mario Burke enter the regional tied for the eighth-fastest time this season at 10.13.

Cameron Prejean (10.46) will also compete in Heat 2 alongside Burke, while Cameron Burrell enters Heat 3 with the No. 13 time at 10.26, and Elijah Hall will run in the fourth heat with the 12th-best time at 10.23. Nicholas Alexander rounds out the Cougar men in the 100 after qualifying with the 36th-best time this season at 10.39.

Tristan Evelyn and Brianne Bethel will hit the track for the women's 100-meter dash in the third and fourth heats respectively. Bethel ran the region's 11th-best time this season at 11.20, when she won The American Championship in the event, while Evelyn debuted at the championships to finish fifth in 11.57 and take the 42nd-best time this year.

NCAA Indoor All-American in the 400-meter dash, Kahmari Montgomery will hit the track next for the Cougars. Montgomery, the American Champion in the event, booked the nation's fourth-fastest time in the one-lap race this season, when he broke the school record in 44.91 at the Mt. SAC Relays.

Junior Cameron Laverty will be Houston's final representative on the track for the first day, when he competes in the 800-meter run. Laverty finished the two-lap race in 1:49.88 at the LSU Invitational to post the 45th-best qualifying time in the West.

Qualifying athletes from the first rounds of the 400-meter hurdles, 100- and 400-meter dash and the 800-meter run will return to action on Friday with a trip to the NCAA Championships on the line.

Nora Monie and Priscilla Adejokun will open throwing events for the Cougars in the shot put ring on Thursday. For Monie in the first of her two events, she posted the 25th-best mark in the region this season at 52-11.5 (16.14m), while Adejokun hits postseason action for the first time with the 42nd-best throw at 50-4.0 (15.34m).

A trio of Cougars will hit the long jump runway on Thursday, led by junior Jared Kerr, who claimed the American Outdoor Championship in the event in Cincinnati. Kerr posted the third-best mark in school history and the fourth-best in the West at 26-8.5 (8.14m). Kerr will be joined by Trumaine Jefferson who jumped a season-best 25-6.75 (7.79m) to sit 16th, and Antwan Dickerson who ranks 21st at 25-5.25 (7.75m).

Freshman Ben Percefull will make his postseason debut on Thursday, when he enters with the 30th-best mark in the pole vault. Percefull went up-and-over the bar at 17-0.75 (5.20m) to set his season-best.

Two-time American Outdoor Champion Samiyah Samuels will be the final Cougar in action on Thursday, when she hits the long jump runway. Samuels won gold at the conference championship meet, when she posted a personal-best of 20-9.25 (6.33m) which ranks 14th in the region.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR FRIDAY
Lattin will return to the track for his second event on Friday afternoon, when he enters the 110-meter hurdles. Lattin booked his season-best at the Texas Relays, when he ran 13.72 to hold the sixth-fastest time in the West.

Freshman Naomi Taylor will follow for Houston, when she makes her postseason debut in the women's 100-meter hurdles. Taylor, The American silver-medalist in the event, ran 13.38 at the meet in Cincinnati to sit 29th in the region.

Burke, Hall, Alexander and Bethel will each return on Friday for their second event of the meet, the 200-meter dash. For the men, Hall holds the top-time in the West this season at 20.11, while Burke won the American Championship in 20.48 to sit eighth in the West and Alexander holds the 31st-best time in the region this season at 20.84.

Bethel posted her qualifying time of 22.74, when she won The American Championship and clocked the seventh-fastest time in the region.

Qualifying athletes in the first round of the 110- and 100-meter hurdles as well as the 200-meter dash will advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Senior Brian Barraza will be the final Cougar on the track on Saturday, when he enters the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Barraza, the American Champion and school-record holder in the event, posted his top-time of 8:41.58 at the Victor Lopez Classic.

Monie will return to action as Houston's only competitor in the field on Friday, when she enters the discus. Monie's top mark this season came on a toss of 171-6 (52.27m) to place her 35th in the West Region.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR SATURDAY
Fans will get a look at Houston's 4x100-meter relay teams to open the final day of competition. The men, the defending national champions in the race, enter with the fourth-fastest time in the NCAA this season at 38.92, while the women hold the 10th-fastest time in the West at 44.46.

The remainder of running events will consist of finals action from the second day until the meet is capped on the track with the men's and women's 4x400-meter relay. Houston's men broke the school-record en route to running the No. 2 time in the West at 3:01.82, while the women posted their qualifying time of 3:36.51 to win The American Championship.

Saturday will also see the conclusion of regional field events, beginning in the throws with the women's hammer and the men's javelin. Junior Taylor Scaife makes her second-consecutive regional appearance in the hammer after posting a school-record at 204-7 (62.37m), while Jack Thomas will enter the jav for the men ranked inside the top-10 at 234-10 (71.58m).

Colin George will make his NCAA West Regional debut after posting the 30th-best mark this season in the high jump. George cleared the bar at a personal-best 6-10.75 (2.10m) at the Victor Lopez Classic.

Felipe Valencia returns to the NCAA West Regional fresh off a silver medal in the shot put at The American Outdoor Championships. In Cincinnati, Valencia posted a career-best mark of 61-4.25 (18.70m) to rank 14th in the region.

Senior Tonye'cia Burks will be Houston's final competitor in the field events, when she looks to complete her comeback story with a trip to the NCAA Championships. After missing the 2017 West Regional due to an injury, Burks won The American crown in the event and posted a season-best 42-8.25 (13.01m) to move to 18th in the West this season.

A full list of competitors, including the heats and flights they will compete in can be found HERE for the men and HERE for the women.

FOLLOW THE COUGARS
Fans can keep up with the latest in University of Houston Cougar athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonAthletics), Twitter (@UHCougars), Instagram (houstoncougars) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/UHAthletics). In addition, the Track & Field team has established its own official Facebook (facebook.com/UHCougarTF) and Twitter pages (@UHCougarTF).