FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, May 25, 2017 Zook just misses cut in NCAA Championships 100M prelims Thursday
Sam Zook runs a time of 10.52 seconds in the preliminary round of the 100-meters at the NCAA Championships on Thursday, and misses advancing to the finals Saturday by just 0.04 seconds. BRADENTON, Fla. – Making his debut at the NCAA Track & Field Championships on Thursday, Montana State University Billings junior sprinter Sam Zook placed sixth in his heat of the 100-meter preliminaries, and 12th overall with a time of 10.52 seconds at IMG Academy. Running in Lane 5 in the first of three heats, Zook was just 0.05 seconds off his personal best time of 10.47 as he crossed the finish line. Kenneth Turner of Angelo State won Heat 1 with a time of 10.34 seconds, earning an automatic qualification into the finals along with Todd Handley of West Texas A&M (10.41 seconds). “My start wasn’t how I wanted it to be, but it looks like I closed towards the end of the race so I was happy with that,” said Zook. “To come in ranked 19th and finish 12th was encouraging, and it helped running next to the guy who won the heat.”
Mobolade Ajomale of Academy of Art and Reginald Thomas of Tiffin finished first and second with times of 10.20 and 10.33, respectively, to qualify out of the second heat. Lester Miller of Shorter and Stephen Rose of Lincoln took first and second with times of 10.26 and 10.31, respectively, to earn the automatic qualifications out of the third and final heat. DeMontez McCray of McKendree ran a 10.39 and Xavier Matthews of Columbus State finished in 10.48 to earn the other two spots in the finals. Zook finished 12th overall among the field of 18 runners, missing the cut by just 0.04 seconds. The NCAA Championships are being hosted jointly by Tampa University and IMG Academy, at the IMG Academy facility. “This wasn’t necessarily the race I wanted to have, but it gave me confidence for the 200 tomorrow,” Zoo said. “My goal is to come out and make the finals tomorrow.” UP NEXT: Zook’s next preliminary race is the 200-meter distance, which will take place Friday evening at IMG Academy. Zook is scheduled to run at 5:50 p.m. Eastern time in Lane 7 of the second heat, with a live video stream available online here. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation-Zook (right) just missed the cut to qualify for Saturday’s 100-meter finals.