Friday, May 30
Jacksonville, FL
Samford University
vs
NCAA East Regionals
Jones Punches Ticket to Eugene; 'Dogs Give It Their All
5.31.14 | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field, Track and Field
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Samford University track and field team sent a contingent of nine student-athletes to compete in 10 events at the NCAA East Prelims which was held at the University of North Florida on May 29-31. It was the most Samford had sent in the program's history.
"I thought overall we had a good meet." Head Coach Rod Tiffin said. "Everyone came in and challenged their PRs (personal records) and weren't overwhelmed by the situation."
Sophomore Adam Jones led the way for the Bulldogs as he became the first student-athlete in two years to qualify for the NCAA Championships. An exhausted Jones finished sixth in his heat in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 3:45.80 and had to wait for the second heat to finish before he could punch his ticket to Eugene, Oregon on June 11-14.
"I always admired how good of a group of athletes these guys are and it was a little scary at first but once the gun went off I just lost all of the nerves." Jones said. "I initially thought that I had just missed the cut by one-hundredth of a second because the second race hadn't started yet."
The Columbus, Georgia native improved his time five seconds from the first race on Thursday, a move that was more about the strategy of preparing for the final race.
"The race had a slower pace than what I expected so it played to my advantage." Jones explained. "I knew I had a chance when I was in the mix for the last two laps so I just gave it everything I had."
Senior Nicole Charley made a valiant effort to push on and qualify for the championships in Eugene as on her third leap in the triple jump she posted a mark of 12.60m which set a new school-record for the Bulldog product out of Hoover, Alabama.
"On the third jump I was thinking that I needed to give it my all because this could be the last time I compete." Charley noted. "I set a new PR along with the school-record so I know I gave it my all."
Nicole wasn't the only Charley however to compete in the NCAA East Prelims as she was accompanied by her sister Simone Charley, a freshman at Vanderbilt University, and her brother Myles, a sophomore at Troy University.
"It was great to see them because we haven't competed, all three of us together, in the same competition before." Charley said. "It was just good to be able to hang out with them and cheer them on before and after competing."
On Thursday Justin Emerson posted a time of 10.86 in the men's 100m dash for a 40th place finish while, Charley finished 29th in the long jump with a leap of 5.92m.
Brandon Hazouri qualified for the next round of competition in the men's 800m after turning in a time of 1:48.82. Hazouri only had a 24 hour window to rest and recover before an attempt to make it to the championships.
The Birmingham native finished 21st overall in the event after he turned in a time of 1:50.44.
Owen Wagoner and Claire Goodson turned in valiant efforts in the men's and women's pole vault as Wagoner finished with a mark of 5.02m for a 31st place finish and Goodson tallied a 3.75m for a spot at 33rd.
Marie Demedicis and Steven Bastien rounded out the Bulldogs efforts as Demedicis placed 40th with a time of 2:08.39 in the women's 800m and Bastien tallied a mark of 7.19m for a 28th place finish in the men's long jump.
"I thought overall we had a good meet." Head Coach Rod Tiffin said. "Everyone came in and challenged their PRs (personal records) and weren't overwhelmed by the situation."
Sophomore Adam Jones led the way for the Bulldogs as he became the first student-athlete in two years to qualify for the NCAA Championships. An exhausted Jones finished sixth in his heat in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 3:45.80 and had to wait for the second heat to finish before he could punch his ticket to Eugene, Oregon on June 11-14.
"I always admired how good of a group of athletes these guys are and it was a little scary at first but once the gun went off I just lost all of the nerves." Jones said. "I initially thought that I had just missed the cut by one-hundredth of a second because the second race hadn't started yet."
The Columbus, Georgia native improved his time five seconds from the first race on Thursday, a move that was more about the strategy of preparing for the final race.
"The race had a slower pace than what I expected so it played to my advantage." Jones explained. "I knew I had a chance when I was in the mix for the last two laps so I just gave it everything I had."
Senior Nicole Charley made a valiant effort to push on and qualify for the championships in Eugene as on her third leap in the triple jump she posted a mark of 12.60m which set a new school-record for the Bulldog product out of Hoover, Alabama.
"On the third jump I was thinking that I needed to give it my all because this could be the last time I compete." Charley noted. "I set a new PR along with the school-record so I know I gave it my all."
Nicole wasn't the only Charley however to compete in the NCAA East Prelims as she was accompanied by her sister Simone Charley, a freshman at Vanderbilt University, and her brother Myles, a sophomore at Troy University.
"It was great to see them because we haven't competed, all three of us together, in the same competition before." Charley said. "It was just good to be able to hang out with them and cheer them on before and after competing."
On Thursday Justin Emerson posted a time of 10.86 in the men's 100m dash for a 40th place finish while, Charley finished 29th in the long jump with a leap of 5.92m.
Brandon Hazouri qualified for the next round of competition in the men's 800m after turning in a time of 1:48.82. Hazouri only had a 24 hour window to rest and recover before an attempt to make it to the championships.
The Birmingham native finished 21st overall in the event after he turned in a time of 1:50.44.
Owen Wagoner and Claire Goodson turned in valiant efforts in the men's and women's pole vault as Wagoner finished with a mark of 5.02m for a 31st place finish and Goodson tallied a 3.75m for a spot at 33rd.
Marie Demedicis and Steven Bastien rounded out the Bulldogs efforts as Demedicis placed 40th with a time of 2:08.39 in the women's 800m and Bastien tallied a mark of 7.19m for a 28th place finish in the men's long jump.
Tuesday, May 03
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