Stephen F. Austin
NCAA West Preliminary Rounds
Peden, Ross Advance to NCAA Championship
5/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
May 29, 2014
FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – Two Lumberjacks punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships on Thursday by finishing in the top 12 at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds to open the meet. Colton Ross and Jamal Peden shined for the Stephen F. Austin track and field team at John McDonnell Field to start the postseason well and give the Lumberjacks some momentum heading into the remainder of the meet. Two more advanced through the first round of running events to Friday’s quarterfinals.
SFA’s trio of pole vaulters opened the action for the Lumberjacks with Ross, Cameron Meyer and Daven Murphree representing. Ross took care of business and was able to advance to the NCAA Championships with his ninth-place finish.
Ross cleared 5.26 meters (17-3.00) on his second attempt, and with a first-attempt clearance at the previous bar, it put him in a tie for ninth. After a small weather delay and with only 15 vaulters remaining, Ross elected to pass his attempts at 5.36 meters (17-7.00). With only seven competitors clearing that height safely, Ross was in a position to advance to Oregon without jumping at the bar.
Meyer just missed the mark finishing in a tie for 20th after he cleared the second bar of the competition at 5.11 meters (16-9.25). Meyer cleared on his first attempt but failed to get over the bar at 5.26 meters (17-3.00), which would have put him in the hunt to finish in the top 12.
The freshman, Murphree, struggled with the windy and wet conditions and failed to clear the opening height in his postseason collegiate debut.
SFA’s final event of the day was the men’s long jump where another Lumberjack punched his ticket to Eugene, Oregon for the NCAA Championships.
Peden came into the meet riding five straight wins in the event and up against some of the nation’s best he claimed sixth place to advance through the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
Peden opened up with a leap of 7.54 meters (24-9.00) to immediately put himself in contention for a spot in Eugene. He improved by three centimeters on his second jump then popped his qualifying mark of 7.62 meters (25-0.00) on his third attempt. Only one jumper was able to pass him during the final three jumps as he dropped one spot to sixth overall.
Trey Darty made his postseason debut in the long jump and came away in 32nd place. His jump of 7.17 meters (23-6.25) was fourth best mark of the season and not enough to advance.
Thrower Madison Johnston had the advantage of being the final thrower in the preliminaries during the javelin competition. However, the school record holder could not muster enough strength to put a big mark out. Johnston finished 47th with a throw of 38.11 meters (125-00) while managing a minor shoulder injury.
Running events got underway for the Lumberjacks with Josh Taylor in the 400 meter hurdles. The school record holder took second in his heat easily with a time of 50.93 seconds to grab an automatic spot in Friday’s quarterfinals.
In the women’s 400 meter hurdles, Stephanie White made her postseason debut with a time of 1:01.61. She finished 42nd overall but will have another chance to advance to the quarterfinals in another event. She is slated to run the 100 meter hurdles on Friday.
Senior Cass Brown-Stewart kept his kept his individual season alive finishing third in his heat to advance to the quarterfinals. He clocked in at 46.65 seconds. He will run the quarterfinals on Friday looking to finish in the top 12 and then a leg of the 4x400 meter relay on Saturday.
Hampton Hawkins made his debut as an individual in the 400 meters and came away in 33rd place. His time of 47.27 seconds was not enough to move onto the next round. He will run the opening leg of the men’s 4x400 meter relay on Saturday with the Lumberjacks looking to return to the NCAA Championship in the event.
Day 2 of the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds gets started at 10 a.m. with field events. SFA’s first event of the day will be the women’s 100 meter hurdles at 5:30 p.m. The ‘Jacks will have three events on Friday. Live results will be available online at flashresults.com. Fans can also watch a live webcast at arkansasrazorbacks.com.
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