Samuels Books Trip to NCAA Championship

5/25/2018 3:03:00 PM | Track and Field

Lattin Breaks 400-meter hurdles record, Cougars qualify 11 for quarterfinals

HOUSTON – Sophomore jumper Samiyah Samuels became the first Cougar to book a trip to the NCAA Championships as the Houston Cougar Men's and Women's Track & Field teams opened the NCAA West Regional on Thursday.

ABOUT THE NCAA WEST REGIONAL
Friday's running 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.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Samuels was the final Cougar in competition on Thursday, but she saved the best for last in the women's long jump. Samuels used her first attempt to jump 19-8.0 (5.99m) to grab the 12th and final qualifying position in the event.

Samuels becomes Houston's first individual women's qualifier for Houston since Sade-Mariah Greendige (100-meter hurdles) and Brittany Kinney (triple jump) in 2015.

The NCAA West Regional began in impressive fashion for Houston, when Amere Lattin broke the school record in the first event on the track, the 400-meter hurdles. Lattin qualified for Friday's quarterfinal when he finished the full-lap race in 49.71 to win his heat and break Kevin Mason's program mark from 1987 of 49.72.

Freshman Quivell Jordan also booked a spot in the 400 hurdles quarterfinal with a third-place finish in his heat. Jordan circled the track in a personal-best 50.44 to post the sixth-fastest time of the qualifying rounds.

Lattin and Jordan will return for the quarterfinal at 9 p.m. CT, Friday.

Sophomore Birexus Hawkins also booked a spot in Friday's quarterfinal with the 10th-fastest overall time in the women's 400-meter hurdles. Running in the final heat, Hawkins crossed the line in 58.51 to finish second and pick up the automatic-qualifying position. Hawkins will return to action at 9:15 p.m. CT.

The Cougars saw five sprinters reach the finals in the men's 100-meter dash, including Cameron Burrell, who ran the fastest wind-legal time ever recorded at the west prelims. Burrell sprinted across the line in 10.02 to punch his ticket to the quarterfinals.

Mario Burke posted the eighth-fastest time of the afternoon with a second-place finish in the second heat, when he ran 10.25, while Elijah Hall crossed in 10.39 to book the 20th qualifying position. Nicholas Alexander and John Lewis III rounded out Houston's qualifiers in the 100-meter dash with Alexander running 10.39 to place 21st and Lewis III taking 22nd in 10.43.

The five Cougar men will return to action for the quarterfinal at 8 p.m. CT, Friday.

Each of Houston's women in the 100-meter dash booked spots in the quarterfinal, including Brianne Bethelwho posted the ninth-fastest time overall. Bethel crossed the line in 11.35 to finish second in her heat and grab an auto-qualifying spot, while freshman Tristan Evelyn ran 11.54 to grab the 19th-best mark and qualify on time.

Bethel and Evelyn return for the quarterfinal at 8:15 p.m. CT, Friday.

Junior Kahmari Montgomery was Houston's final quarterfinal qualifier of the afternoon, posting the second-fastest time in the 400-meter dash. Montgomery breezed one lap around the track in 45.61 to win the third heat and automatically qualify. Montgomery will return to action at 7:30 p.m. CT, on Friday.

Junior Nora Monie just missed booking a trip to nationals with her 13th-place finish in the women's shot put. Monie fell just short of her personal-best when she marked 52-8.75 (16.07m) on her final attempt. Freshman Priscilla Adejokun made her regional debut with a 45th-place finish in the event at 46-2.0 (14.07m).

The Cougar men picked up two more top-15 finishes in the men's long jump, when Jared Kerr took 13th and Antwan Dickerson placed 14th. Kerr leapt 25-0.5 (7.63m), while Antwan Dickerson finished right behind at 24-11.75 (7.61m). Trumaine Jefferson placed 26th with a best of 23-11.75 (7.31m).

In the pole vault, freshman Ben Percefull made his regional debut with an 18th-place finish in the men's pole vault. Percefull went up-and-over the bar at 16-4.75 (5.00m).

Cameron Laverty was the final Cougar in action on the track on the first day of the regional, competing in the 800-meter run. Laverty finished the two-lap race in 1:52.13 to finish 35th.

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).