Results: Men's 100m | Women's LJ | Complete
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 29, 2014 – Juniors Alfred Higgs and Natasha Stewart competed for USF on Thursday, the first day of the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Fla.
Stewart finished 26th in the long jump, out of the field of 48, with a jump of 19-6.25 (5.95m) in her second attempt. The Vero Beach, Fla. native misplaced her mark in the first attempt and fouled in her third.
“For my second jump, I adjusted it,” said Stewart. “I was on the board and I got a good take off, but I just didn't do what I needed to do in the air. Overall I'm pretty content.”
Despite landing her third best jump of the season, Stewart failed to make it to the final flight. However, it is still better than last season's effort when Stewart finished 45th at 18-1. Kentucky's Sha'Keela Saunders won the event, which was delayed two hours due to afternoon thunderstorms, at 21-1.50.
Higgs entered the 100m dash having not run a time slower than 10.80 all season. The junior from the Bahamas had been nursing a bad right hamstring ever since coming up lame in the finals of the American Athletic Conference Championships earlier in the month. On Thursday, Higgs was bothered by the injury again finishing eighth in his heat, 43rd overall with a time of 11.49.
“I felt good when I was warming up and I felt good when I was in the starting blocks,” said Higgs. “About 40 meters into the race when I was in my drive phase I tweaked my hamstring again so I wasn't able to go to that next level of speed. I had to shut it down because my legs gave away.”
Higgs was the only one for the Bulls scheduled to compete in multiple events, but will likely give up his spot in the 4x100m relay on Saturday. Junior Franklin Mosely (Tampa) is the favorite to replace Higgs.
Courtney Anderson (Cape Coral, Fla.), Christopher Grinley (Lake Worth, Fla.), Shane Lewis (Orlando) and Matthew O'Neal (Jackson, Miss.) will all compete on Friday at the University of North Florida at Hodges Stadium.
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QUOTES
Alfred Higgs, Junior, 100m
On the race:
“I felt good when I was warming up and I felt good when I was in the starting blocks. About 40 meters into the race when I was in my drive phase I tweaked my hamstring again so I wasn't able to go to that next level of speed. I had to shut it down because my legs gave away.”
On the similarity to the injury suffered at the conference meet:
“It's not as bad as at conference because I was able to control it a little bit just now. At conference I wasn't able to control it at all.”
On his spot on the 4x100m relay team:
“I'm going to see how it feels tomorrow, but I probably will let my teammate (Franklin Mosely) run because he's healthier than me. I want to give them the best opportunity to try and make it to nationals or break the school record again.”
Summer plans:
“I'm going to finish my classes and do some offseason training on the beach back home. I want to try and make the national team for the Bahamas.”
Natasha Stewart, Junior, Long Jump
On the jumps:
“With my first jump, my mark wasn't on. For my second jump, I adjusted it. I was on the board and I got a good take off, but I just didn't do what I needed to do in the air. Overall I'm pretty content.”
“I give all glory to God for making it this far. I'm happy with my performance because it's much better than last season so I'm improving and I have another year left.”
Summer plans:
“Training and working on what I need to do in order to be ready for next season. I'll also be working at the YMCA (with teammate Marqueshia Stallworth) with summer camp kids.
