Six Sam Houston State men's track and field student-athletes will be traveling to compete in the 2012 NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships.
The championships will be held June 6-9 in Des Moines, Iowa. The NCAA announced the complete field for the event Wednesday.
The Sam Houston State 4x400 relay team of Trey Jones, Brian Helaire, Jesse Martinez and D. J. Hayes and triple jumper Charles White qualified through competition at the West preliminary round event held May 24-26 Austin, Texas. Matthew Viverette will accompany the team as the alternate for the relay.
The other half of the field for the Championships earned their way into the competition from the East preliminary round held the same weekend in Jacksonville, Florida.
"What a great meet we had in Austin at the West preliminary round," Sam Houston head coach David Self said. "We had several more people come close to qualifying and everyone had good efforts."
White, a freshman from Fort Worth, finished fifth in the West triple jump with a school record mark of 51 feet, 10.5"
"Charles uncorked one on his second jump of the competition," Self said. "We've known he had the potential to unleash a jump like that all spring. It was a remarkable performance."
White enters the NCAA Championships in Des Moines ranked ninth among the 24 competitors.
The Bearkat 4x400 relay team also produced a school record with their 10th place West preliminary time of 3:06.51.
"Again, it was a great effort by the whole relay team," Self said. "We finished ahead of some really outstanding relay teams to earn our spot in the championships."
Sam Houston stands 19th among the 24 relay teams entered in the championships. Jones is a sophomore from Red Oak, Helaire a sophomore from Cy Creek, Martinez a sophomore from Mayde Creek, Hayes a senior from Lancaster and Viverette a sophomore from Barbers Hill.
Six women and nine men have represented Sam Houston State in the NCAA Championship outdoor national track and field meet. Six of those 15 have earned All-America honors including Rosunda Betts (javelin 2006), Chris Cralle (hammer 2011), Matt Johnson (decathlon 2011), Precious Madison (long jump 2001), Adrian Ray (110 hurdles 2003) and Jennie Sewell (pole vault 2007).
