Trio of Kats qualify for NCAA Indoor Championships
3/1/2019 12:29:00 AM | Track & Field
HUNTSVILLE – Sam Houston State has qualified three athletes for the NCAA Division I 2019 Indoor Track & Field Championships, which will be hosted at the Birmingham CrossPlex March 8-9 in Birmingham, Ala.
The qualifying athletes are Chris Jefferson, Fabian McCall and Clayton Fritsch. The three athletes will return to the same place they clinched their fourth straight conference title, with hopes of continuing their outstanding performances on the national level.
McCall will compete in the men's 60-meter hurdles, Jefferson in the 200-meter dash and Fritsch in the pole vault.
Jefferson, the senior out of Jersey Village, has set records throughout this season. His qualifying mark of 20.74 was posted at the Texas Tech Open, a mark that broke his own school record He followed up that performance with a second-place finish in the Southland Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships where he was instrumental in helping the Bearkats run away with the title. This will be Jefferson's first career NCAA Indoor meet.
Southland Conference champion in the 60-meter hurdles McCall set his qualifying mark during the season-opening meet. The Huntsville native recorded a time of 7.74 during the Ted Nelson Invitational Friday in College station on Jan 11. The mark became a new program record for SHSU, supplanting the previous record set by Adrian Ray 15 years prior.
Rounding out the three qualifiers is Fritsch, who will compete in the pole vault. The sophomore out of Sealy recorded a jump of 18' 2” (5.54m) at the Howie Ryan Invitational on Feb 9 in Houston. The mark was not only his qualifying mark, but broke a school record for the event, and was the highest any student has ever jumped for the program under any conditions.
Quotes:
Fritsch on his sophomore season and how it feels to set a school-record and be a national qualifier…
“Pretty blessed, to be honest. Can't get much better than that. I came in wanting high goals and so far we have achieved them. I'm pretty happy with that…looking forward to the next coming years.”
Jefferson on breaking the school-record in the 200-meter dash and how it feels to be a senior continuing to set records, and being one of the national qualifiers…
“It feels good. Last year it was my goal to make indoor nationals. I couldn't get it last year, but coming into this year I told myself that I was going to make it. And I knew what it took. I had to be consistent with my times, so it feels good.”
McCall on coming off another conference title, how he's feeling as the conference champion, and his excitement for the national championships…
“Happy, happy about the conference championships, I'm excited about nationals, and I'm just blessed for the opportunity.”
