TAMPA, May 15, 2014 – USF will travel 21 members of the track and field team to the Louisville Twilight to compete on Friday as a final chance to qualify for the postseason.
The shortened squad is made up of those with a chance to improve their season best in order to qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Round held May 29-31 in Jacksonville, Fla. In order to qualify, an individual must be among the top 48 declared student-athletes in their event per region. For relays, the top 24 declared teams will be accepted. For multi's such as heptathlon and pentathlon, the top 24 point totals automatically advance to the NCAA Championships held June 11-14 in Eugene, Oregon.
The USF men currently have four who meet the qualifying standard which are Alfred Higgs (No. 42, 100m, 10.41) Christopher Grinley (No. 35, 110m hurdles, 14.11), Mattew O'Neal (No. 12, triple jump, 53-0) and Shane Lewis (No. 12, triple jump, 51-6.25).
The Bulls have many who are close to the top 48 such as Paul Barrett (Tampa) at No. 52 in the 400m hurdles, Giscard Petion (Tampa) at No. 66 in the high jump, Winston Perry (Fort Lauderdale) at No. 78 in the pole vault, Derrick Hopkins (Opa Locka) at No. 79 in the 100m and Wyatt Metzger (Orlando) at No. 80 in the pole vault. The 4x100m relay team of Higgs, Hopkins, Chareif Lewis (Clermont) and Dae Young Yoon (Hollywood, Fla.) rank 33rd in the East with a top time of 40.34. All will have a chance to improve their best distances, heights and times on Friday.
The USF women currently have three who meet the qualifying standard which are Courtney Anderson (No. 18, high jump, 5-10), Marqueshia Stallworth (No. 22, triple jump, 42-0) and Natasha Stewart (No. 10, long jump, 20-9).
Similar to the men, the women's squad have many on the cusp of qualification with Mira Carrozza (Pittsburgh, Pa.) at No. 56 in the javelin, Brittany London (Middleville, Mich.) at No. 73 in the pole vault and Laticia Sims (Detroit, Mich.) at No. 64 in the 100m hurdles.
Led by eighth-year head coach Warren Bye, the USF track and field team has produced 20 All-Americans (seven men, 13 women) since 2000. USF is home to the 2018 NCAA Track and Field East Preliminary.
