http://www.gofrogs.com/sports/w-otrack/recaps/052816aaa.html
GoFrogs: Horned Frogs Advance Seven on Final DayGoFrogs: Horned Frogs Advance Seven on Final Day
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The TCU men’s and women’s track and field team punched seven more tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. with stellar outings at the NCAA West Prelims on Saturday.
“We had a successful weekend,” said director of track and field Darryl Anderson. “We had a good amount of qualifiers based on the amount of people we brought.”
Overall, the Horned Frogs will send 10 athletes to compete at the historic Hayward Field on June 8-11.
“I feel pretty good about the group we are sending to Eugene. Everybody that is going has a realistic opportunity to score when we get there, and that’s always a positive.”
The men’s 4×100-meter relay team of junior Raymond Bozmans, senior Sam Watts, junior Malik Summers and senior Ronnie Baker set the tone for the day as they opened with a first-place finish in the final heat at 39.50. Yesterday, Baker also notched a spot in the 100-meter dash semifinals at the national championship.
In the 100-meter hurdles, senior Brianna McGhee led the sixth heat with a first-place time of 13.01, clinching an automatic berth to nationals. With her latest performance, McGhee will make her third-straight appearance at the NCAA Championships (2015 Outdoor, 2016 Indoor).
Sophomore Scotty Newton took care of business in the triple jump as he matched his season-best mark with a distance of 52 ft. (15.85 meters). Newton would hold on to 12th place and advance to nationals. As a freshman last year, Newton made it to the triple jump finals in Eugene.
Junior Adam Damadzic secured a spot at nationals with a 10th-place finish in the discus behind a throw of 183 feet 10 inches (56.03 meters). Damadzic’s mark was his second farthest of the season.
Following his performance in the men’s 4×100, Watts ran a 20.65 in the 200-meter dash, placing ninth and advancing to the next round in Eugene.
Closing out the meet in dramatic fashion was senior Megan Smith in the shot put. Heading into her final attempt, the Olathe, Kan. native found herself in 19th place, but with her last throw, she connected and launched the shot 54 feet 3.75 inches (16.55 meters). Smith jumped to 12th place with her effort and held on to advance to the NCAA Championships.
“Megan Smith, Adam Damadzic and Scotty Newton getting the last spots is huge. You really can’t win at the regionals, but you lose if you’re not in the top 12, so mission accomplished.”
“Everybody who we thought would make it through, made it through. We’ll move on, take the next 10 days, and get ready to go out to Eugene, and see if we can continue to do well and come out of the meet with a top-20 performance.”
In all, TCU will be competing in eight events at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. Competition will begin on Wednesday, June 8 and will run until Saturday, June 11.