Nine Kats bound for NCAA Preliminary Round
5/16/2013 3:08:00 PM | Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
Nine Sam Houston athletes have earned spots in the 2013 NCAA Division I West Outdoor Track and Field Preliminary Round to be held Thursday through Saturday, May 23-25, in Austin.
One of those nine also is already in the field at the NCAA Finals to be held in Eugene, Oregon in June.
Matt Johnson, senior from Port Neches Groves, already has qualified for a trip to Eugene in the decathlon. Johnson won the Southland Conference men's decathlon championship last weekend in Lake Charles with a final point total of 7,496.
Johnson also will compete in the West Preliminary Round in the 110 hurdles. His best mark in the event this year was 14.35 seconds as he placed third at the Southland championships.
Seven other men will represent the Bearkats in Austin this weekend including Brek Christensen, Kristen Mitchell, Trevor Sealy, Karique Stephen, Matthew Viverette, Charles White and Jarrick Wright.
Shelbie Zotyka will compete in the women's pole vault. The senior from Wallis won the Southland Conference pole vault last weekend with a mark of 12 feet, 10.75 inches.
Christensen and Sealy both will throw in the men's hammer. Sealy, a junior from Pearland, has a top mark of 200 feet nine inches. Christensen, a senior from Cypress Fairbanks, has a best throw of 198 feet six inches this year. Sealy was the runner-up and Christensen placed fourth in the Southland hammer event.
Viverette, a junior from Barbers Hill will compete in both hurdles events. His best times this year are 14.11 in the 110 hurdles and 51.54 in the 400 hurdles. Viverette was the runner-up in the 110 meter hurdles and placed third in 400 hurdles at the Southland Conference last week.
Mitchell and Wright will run the 100 meter dash. Mitchell, a junior from Houston owns a best time of 10.46 this spring. He finished fourth in the Southland Conference 100 meters. Wright's best mark is 10.56 which earned the Houston Eisenhower product fifth place in the Southland.
Stephen and White will compete in the triple jump with the pair finished first and second in last week's Southland Championships with marks of 51 feet nine inches and 51 feet 3.75 inches, respectively. Stephen is senior from Baytown while White is a junior from Las Vegas, Nev.
To advance to the NCAA Finals in Oregon, each of the West Preliminary Round competitors must finish among the top 10 in their respective event.
