Wilson Advances to Finals, Three Cougars Earn All-America Honors

Friday, March 8

Boston, Mass.

University of Houston

NCAA Indoor Championships

Wilson Advances to Finals, Three Cougars Earn All-America Honors

3/8/2024 8:02:00 PM | Track and Field

Results (PDF)Photo Gallery

Senior hurdler will compete in finals, Sampy, Beckford, Maswanganyi finish season

By: Colton Merritt

BOSTON – Senior hurdler De'Vion Wilson qualified for the 60-meter hurdle final at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships while three Cougars finished the day with All-America Second Team honors on Friday.

After a lengthy delay on the 60-meter track, Wilson ran to fourth in his heat and eighth overall with a time of 7.70. With the last qualifying spot, Wilson will compete in the 60-meter final, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT.

In the heptathlon, junior multi-athlete Grant Levesque started his meet running a 6.79 in the 60-meter dash, the top time in the heptathlon. In the other three events, Levesque had a 6.87-meter (22'-6.5) long jump, a shot put throw of 13.44 (44'-1.25) meters and a 1.88-meter (6'-2) high jump to end the day in 12^th place with 3,131 points. Levesque will compete in three events on Saturday starting with the 60-meter hurdles at 9:30 a.m. CT, followed by the pole vault and the 1000-meters.

Senior pole vaulter Christyan Sampy was the only Cougar in finals action today, as he earned All-America Second Team honors with his 10^th place finish in the pole vault. Sampy cleared the first bar at 5.30 (17'4.5) meters but could not get past the next height..

Senior sprinter Shaun Maswanganyi started his NCAA Championship meet in the 60-meters, finishing in ninth place, just 0.01 seconds away from qualifying for finals. His time of 6.63 earned him Second Team All-America honors. In the 200-meter semifinals, Maswanganyi crossed the line at 20.87 and placed 13^th overall. He racked up a second All-America Second Team honor on Friday, giving him 12 across his career at Houston, the most in Houston track and field history.

To end day one for the Cougars, graduate distance runner Kelly-Ann Beckford finished the 800-meter in 14^th place with a time of 2:06.55. This earned the graduate Second Team All-America honors, adding to the feat she accomplished last indoor season.

Beckford will compete in the 4x400-meter tomorrow alongside graduate Sydni Townsend, senior Iman Babineaux and freshman Michaela Mouton at 7:20 p.m. CT.

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