Houston Punches 13 Tickets on Final Day of Prelims

Saturday, May 29

College Station, Texas

University of Houston

NCAA West Preliminary Rounds

ATH - University of Houston Track & Field at the NCAA West Resionals at Texas A&M.

Photo by: For Houston Athletics

5/29/2021 10:14:00 PM | Track and Field

Cougars set to compete in nine events at NCAA Championships

HOUSTON – The University of Houston Track & Field program closed out the 2021 NCAA West Preliminary rounds with a combined 16 individual qualifiers and three relays advancing to the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene.

The women's squad secured five individual entries and both the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays. On the men's side there will be 11 individual entries and one relay.

FULL RESULTS CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING HERE

The Houston men returned to action after the meet was postponed last night due to severe weather. The lay-off did not damper the party for the Cougars as the UH men's 4x100-meter relay squad opened the day by punching its ticket to Eugene. Jordan Booker, Travis Collins, Christian Hamberlin and Shaun Maswanganyi combined for the second-fastest time of the day in the event at 39.02.

Dayo Akindele was the first individual qualifier of the day for UH, securing his spot at the NCAA Championships in the 110-meter hurdles. Dayo was joined by his younger brother DJ who clocked a personal best in the event, but fell just short of qualifying for Nationals with a time of 13.79.

The Houston sprinters did not disappoint as two Cougars advanced in the 100-meter. Maswanganyi clocked the second-fastest time of the day at 10.04, a wind-legal personal-best for the freshman. Travis Collins will advance after finishing among the top three in his heat at 10.27.

UH will find itself in a field filled with Cougar red after four Houston competitors qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200-meter. Maswanganyi will go for the double along with Collins after clocking the fastest time of the day (20.19). Booker punched his ticket after securing a personal-best at 20.50, followed by Collins in ninth place with a time of 20.58. Hamberlin secured the final qualifying spot in the event with a personal-best performance of 20.64. Freshman Dylan Brown ran his third lifetime best of the weekend, falling just short of qualifying for Nationals with a time of 20.68 and in 14^th-place.

Quivell Jordan will continue the hurdle tradition at UH after clinching the final spot to Eugene in the 400-meter hurdles at 50.25. This marks Jordan's second time qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

The Houston women got going early, winning its heat of the 4x100-meter relay to advance. Camille Rutherford, Brianne Bethel, Cecilia Tamayo-Garza and Tristan Evelyn combined for the third-fastest time of the day at 43.21.

The 100-meter was highlighted by a pair of tickets punched as Bethel and Rutherford advanced after a battle in the third heat. Bethel clocked the fourth fastest time of the day at 11.27, as Rutherford extended her freshman season after clocking in at 11.37. Evelyn (11.44) and Tamayo-Garza (11.45) put on a fantastic display but fell just short as they finished 13^thand 14^th in the event, respectively.

Bethel put her speed on display again in the 200-meter, advancing to Eugene in the event behind the third-fastest time in the West Region at 22.78.

In the final event of the four-day competition, the Houston women clocked the third-fastest time in program history in the 4x400-meter relay. The squad secured an automatic qualifier after finishing third in the first heat. Zarie Dumas, Aliyah Taylor, Bethel and Tamayo-Garza punched the final ticket of the week for UH with a time of 3:33.62.

In the field, Destiny Lawrence competed in the Triple Jump finishing in 22^nd-place with a series best leap of 12.75m (41-10).

Nora Monie finished a few places short of advancing with a 19^th-place finish in the Discus. Her best toss of the day was a heave of 52.74m (173-0).

Imari Chatman represented UH in the 400-meter hurdles, racking up a 21^st-place finishing at 1:00.47.

Jermaine Holt and Tyrell Valentine competed in the 400-meter with Valentine finishing 19^th (46.78) and Holt in 20^th(47.17).

The Houston men's 4x400-meter relay finished just outside the qualifying field in 15^th-place as Joshua White, Valentine, Hamberlin and Booker combined for a time of 3:07.60.

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