Viverette finishes 14th, earns All-American
6/10/2015 11:51:00 PM | Track & Field
EUGENE, Ore. – Matthew Viverette didn't know what to expect at the NCAA Track and Field Championships. Running in front of 20,000 fans for the first time, he just wanted to give his best effort.
He did exactly that, running a personal best time of 13.688, just missing on advancing to the finals. His run was good enough to place 14th and earn him a second-team All-American recognition.
“To come out and run a PR at the national championship is all you can ask for,” Viverette said. “I got off to a great start and then hit a hurdle. I was just so close.”
Viverette was leading his heat at the fourth hurdle and was in position to advance until he hit the eighth hurdle. It slowed him down just enough to drop him to 5th in his heat with the top two advancing automatically to the finals.
“The best thing is I don't have any regrets,” Viverette said. “I came out and ran my best race on the biggest stage.”
The mark just edged his previous best time of 13.69 seconds.
“I am happy that he is here, but I'm sad his season and career is over,” said head coach Dave Self. “It has been a great five years coaching and I'm thankful for the opportunity to coach him.”
The senior said he was approaching the event just like it was any other track meet, but admitted he was impressed with the atmosphere of historic Hayward Field in the city referred to as Tracktown USA.
“I didn't know what to expect,” he said. “You come out and see the grandstands full and it was pretty amazing. It was an awesome experience.”
Viverette is the first of three Sam Houston State athletes who will compete at the national championships. Thursday, Ashley Jenkins will compete in the hammer throw and Danielle Demas will run in the semifinals of the 100-meter hurdles.
Demas comes into the championship after placing third at the West Preliminaries in Austin two weeks ago.
