University of South Florida
NCAA East Preliminary Round
USF Leaves Prelims with Two NCAA Finalists
May 31, 2014 | Track & Field
Results: Men's Discus | 4x100m Relay | Women's Triple Jump
Meet Central | Live Stats | Complete Results
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 31, 2014 – Courtney Anderson and Matthew O'Neal will be the representatives for USF at the NCAA Championships as the Bulls wrapped up the final day of the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Fla.
Anderson and O'Neal will compete in Eugene, Ore. on June 14. All three entries that competed on Saturday for USF failed to advance.
Senior Marqueshia Stallworth (Laxahatchee, Fla.) finished 23rd in the women's triple jump with a top distance of 41-5.5 (12.63m), accomplished in her third attempt. It was her second best of the season, but short of the top 16 required to make the final flight.
“The jump that I fouled probably would have placed me in the finals,” said Stallworth. “I didn't think my third jump would have qualified and it didn't. I knew I had to jump my best to qualify and it didn't happen for me today.”
The 4x100m relay team of Derrick Hopkins (Vero Beach, Fla.), Chareif Lewis (Clermont, Fla.), Dae Young Yoon (Hollywood, Fla.) and Franklin Mosely (Tampa, Fla.) ran USF's second fastest time of the season at 40.68. That time placed the Bulls eighth in its heat and 23rd overall out of 24. To qualify, USF would have had to run better than 39.70, a time that would have to best the school record of 40.34.
“I think we could have done a lot better,” said Hopkins. “But our guys came in and put in a lot of work and left it all on the track. Everyone gave their best and that's all you can ask for.”
Mosely, primarily a 400m runner, replaced the injured Alfred Higgs at the anchor leg. Despite falling short of advancing, it was quite an accomplishment to be the first 4x100m relay team in school history to qualify for the NCAA Prelims.
Junior Devin Screen (Tallahassee, Fla.) fouled on all three of his attempts in the discus. The two-time NJCAA All-American failed to stay in the circle and will head into the summer to try and work out the kinks.
“My arm was rushing off the left side instead of staying down the middle,” said Screen. “I was probably trying too hard to accomplish what I've been working towards all season. I kind of crashed when I got here and overdid myself. I was overthinking it.”
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QUOTES
Saturday
Marqueshia Stallworth, senior, triple jump, 41-5.5 (12.63m)
On her performance:
“The jump that I fouled probably would have placed me in the finals. I didn't think my third jump would have qualified and it didn't. I knew I had to jump my best to qualify and it didn't happen for me today.”
Derrick Hopkins, senior, 4x100m relay, 40.68
On their performance:
“I think we could have done a lot better. But our guys came in and put in a lot of work and left it all on the track. Everyone gave their best and that's all you can ask for.”
On the substitute anchor Franklin Mosely:
“I think Frank did very well. Training for the 400 is very different than training for the 100. It was only his second time running the 4x100.”
Summer plans:
“I'm going to take some time off and let my body heal up. I'm going to try to get on the pro circuit so I'm going to start training and see what I can do.”
Devin Screen, junior, discus, foul
On his performance:
“Off the back, coming into the throw, I was fading away from it. My arm was rushing off the left side instead of staying down the middle. My arm was pulling in and I needed to stay connected and make it smoother instead of rushing it. I have a lot to work on this summer.”
On any nervousness:
“I was probably trying too hard to accomplish what I've been working towards all season. I kind of crashed when I got here and overdid myself. I was overthinking it.”
Friday
Courtney Anderson, senior, 5-11.5 (1.81m), top five
On her performance:
“This season has been a little less consistent than last season, but I am peaking at the right time. Since I haven't been consistently as good as last year, there was a little bit of pressure. So I had to get my mind right and focus on this meet to do what I needed to do.”
On preparation for Eugene:
“Just run, do some plyos. Do whatever I need to get better. I'm going to do whatever I can to place in the top eight again.”
Matthew O'Neal, sophomore, triple jump, 52-10 (16.10m), third
On his performance:
“It was definitely a blessing to get out that kind of a jump. I was feeling a little tense and a little anxiety, but I just had to do what I had been doing and that is trusting in God to help me.”
On preparation for Eugene:
“Definitely keep training and train harder. Put in the hours with Coach (Peter) Herber. I hope to do my best and we'll see what happens.”
Shane Lewis, senior, triple jump, 50-4 (15.34m), 20th
On his performance:
“My first jump felt okay. Coming down on my second jump I felt really good and really fast. I was just trying too hard on my last attempt. I just needed to relax and do what I did to get here.”
Summer plans:
“I'm not worried about this summer, I'm worried about Monday. Monday I'm going to go out with coach and keep training and try to prepare myself for the Olympics in 2016.”
Christopher Grinley, freshman, 110m hurdles, 14.29, 39th
On the race:
“My start has always been a week part for me, but today I think I had a pretty good start. I was probably mid-pack going into the first hurdle. I felt pretty fast today, but I hit a lot of hurdles early and that kind of threw my race off. I finished with a pretty decent time, but I'm not satisfied with it.”
On what time he thought it would take to qualify for the quarterfinals:
“I thought I would have to run 13's and I came in with a PR of 14.11. I thought I could PR and run below 14.00.”
What's next:
“I'll go to the USA Junior Championships and if I do well there I'll hopefully go to world juniors.”
Thursday
Alfred Higgs, Junior, 100m, 11:49, 43rd
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, 19-6.25 (5.95m), 26th
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.
