The 4x100m Relay is Austin Bound

Thursday, May 23

Sacramento, Calif.

TBA

South Dakota State University

NCAA DI West Preliminaries

Photo by: GoJacks.com

5/25/2019 10:33:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results: NCAA West Prelims 2019

The squad of Emmanual Phoulom-Smith, Coby Hilton, Daniel Clarke, and Sam Zenner become the first Summit League 4x100m team to qualify for the NCAA Championships

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - For the first time since becoming Division I, the South Dakota State track and field teams will bring two entries to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas.

The men's 4x100m relay squad will join senior Rachel King at Mike A. Myers Stadium on June 5-8 to compete against the nation's best.

Freshman Emmanual Phoulom-Smith led off and handed it to sophomore Coby Hilton as the defending 4x100m relay national champion Houston squad dropped the baton to disqualify. That opened the door for the Jackrabbits, wrapping up with sophomore Daniel Clarke and junior Sam Zenner, to finish with the fifth-best mark of the third heat and the last "next-fastest" qualifying bids.

The men trimmed another 0.13 seconds off the school record for the second time this year to record the first-ever sub-40-second performance (39.99).

The two-time Summit League Champions were the first SDSU relay squad in DI era to qualify for the NCAA West Prelims and will be the first men's entry since Kyle Burdick qualified in the 1,500m in 2017.

They are the first Summit League relay squad - 4x400m relay or 4x100m relay - to qualify for the outdoor DI national championships. The league has had one men's indoor 4x400m relay and two women's outdoor 4x400m relays and one women's indoor 4x400m relay.

The second leg, Hilton, also added competition in the 100m and 200m over the weekend, becoming the second Jackrabbit to compete in both on the same weekend at the regionals (Carly Carper in 2015) and was the first male to compete in the 200m (41st, 21.35). He was the second male in the 100m (43rd, 10.63) as teammate Clarke qualified in 2018.

Senior Kyle Burdick closed out his South Dakota State career just outside of the qualifying 12 in the 1,500m, finishing 14th overall with a season-best mark and his second-best mark of his career (3:43.14). He placed eighth in the second heat of the quarterfinal round.

Later in the night, Burdick added a 46th-place finish in the 5,000m (14.51.26) with his third NCAA West Prelim apprearance in the event.

4X100M RELAY REACTION
"We're pretty ecstatic with the results tonight but we weren't surprised with the results," Hilton said. "We knew we had the potential for success with the great seed and lane assignment."

"Our biggest strength was the confidence in ourselves and our teammates," explained Clarke. "We are able to remain relaxed and have fun out there because of that trust."

"We went out there with the nothing-to-lose mentality, which was probably why we were so loose," Phoulom-Smith said. "We didn't stress over having to make a PR or anything like that, we just went out and executed and got good results."

"The warm-ups were well-structed and all the big school were doing their usual thing so we were able to come out and do ours," Phoulom-Smith continued. "Moving forward, I think we just want to continue working on the techniques and handoffs because, as you can see, sometimes all it takes is getting the stick around."

"Technique and handoffs will be a huge difference compared to speed training," Clarke said, agreeing with Phoulom-Smith. "We aren't going to develop much speed in two weeks, but we can always work on technique and handoffs."

COACH HANENBERGER'S THOUGHTS
"I am just incredibly proud of the group," said Associate Head Coach Eric Hanenberger. "When we got there, the atmosphere and weather was perfect for us to run fast."

"I was up atop the stands pacing a little bit, being a little nervous for them," explained Hanenberger. "But they were one of the loosest and relaxed groups out there. Even some of the other coaches there were telling me how relaxed they look."

"After warm-ups, I told Rod (DeHaven) that we were either going to run fast or not run at all because of how well we looked," Hanenberger described. "Before the race I told them to stay patient and relaxed and wait for each one of them to hit their mark and then do your part."

"We just wanted to remain relaxed and enjoy the moment and competition -- having fun with the great teams," said Hanenberger. "And I think that's something we want moving forward."

"The approach will be the same in Austin, staying patient, hitting their marks, and letting the fruits of their labor show," Hanenberger continued. "The biggest thing will be to remain having fun and enjoying the great competition."

VIDEO: The men's 4x100m relay competition.

KING IS THE FIRST JACKRABBIT TO AUSTIN
Senior Rachel King becomes the first South Dakota State Jackrabbit to qualify out of the west preliminaries for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in consecutive seasons.

She earned an automatic qualifying spot in the 3,000m steeplechase by winning the third and final heat of the west prelims on Friday night in Hornet Stadium (9:50.15).

With her personal-best mark by 4.29 seconds, she resets the school-record mark for the sixth time in her career and added the sixth-fastest time out of the preliminary event this year.

With an NCAA Championship qualification last year, she became the first SDSU female student-athlete to compete on the track at the championships in DI era.

Now this year, she remains the lone female Jack to accomplish the feat while also being the first Jackrabbit to qualify in back-to-back seasons during the east/west regional preliminary era and the first since the 2009-2010 seasons when Sara Ackman did it in the discus throw during the Midwest/West Regional transition (2009 the Jacks were in the Midwest Regional, 2010 the Jacks were in the West Regional).

All five competitors ahead of King scored personal-best marks while 10 of the 12 advancing, including the Jackrabbit, re-wrote their collegiate bests. In the east preliminaries, the winning time was 9:52.48 (Auburn's Joyce Kimeli) and Providence's Brianna Ilarda has the best PR in the event out of the east (9:50.42).

The senior will go into Austin with the seventh-best mark on the season in the NCAA, with the six better marks also coming out of the west region.

KING BREAKS DOWN THE RACE
"Tonight went exaclty how I wanted it to go," King explained. "Going into this year, I wanted to reach the 9:50's mark at regionals to get a good spot into the national championships and so tonight was done perfectly."

With the senior about 10m away from the heat leader, King made a last-leg surge for the heat win and an auto-bid into the championships at Austin on June 5-8.

"On that last lap, Prouse was ahead of me quite bit and the (stadium) announcer kept saying that the third- and fourth-place runners were closing in and so I just kept pushing," King said. "I got over the last water barrier really well and I figured I would at least have a chance to catch her."

"I noticed she wasn't sprinting as hard and I didn't want to leave anything to chance so I kept sprinting through to sneak by her," King said. "Both Rod (DeHaven, coach) and I know I have an incredible kick so as long as I stay close and feel good, anything can happen."

The feeling of going to Austin has yet to hit the St. Michael, Minn. native.

"It definitely hasn't sunk in yet," King laughed, only a couple hours after the race. "I was confident in my ability and felt good about my chances but there are a lot of talented girls and I was pretty nervous before the race."

"But today was perfect." King continued. "My legs felt great, I got over the barriers really smooth and we got out to a good pace."

As she sets her eyes on her second trip to the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships, she plans to have a different strategy than before.

"Last year, I went home for awhile and I think that allowed me to focus on other thing," King explained. "This year, I plan to stay in Brookings to train and focus on running."

As she resets her focus, she feels her experience will carry her through to her goal this year.

"My goal last year was to get to the national championships, but then I didn't really have a goal after that," King said. "This year I want to be an All-American and I have the feeling and experience of being there and competing with the other girls."

DEHAVEN'S REACTION
"I think the best way to describe her race tonight was courageous," Coach Rod DeHaven stated. "I don't think she felt great but really rallied to punch her ticket to Austin."

"We are all happy for her to get through, especially with the degree of difficulty there can be on the track in this situation," DeHaven explained. "But she's a senior with a lot of maturity and knows what she has to do."

"I think moving forward, she will rely on a lot of her experiences from last year," DeHaven continued. "I think she knows what she has to do and will be able to learn from last year to do what she needs to do."

VIDEO: King's full-length 3,000m steeplechase race.

RECAPPING THURSDAY AT WEST PRELIMS
Senior Kyle Burdick has now qualified for his third consecutive NCAA West Preliminary quarterfinals appearance in the 1,500m, finishing with an automatic bid and eighth-best mark among 48 competitors.

The Rapid City, S.D. native finished third in the Heat 2 of the 1,500m (3:44.95) to earn the auto-qualifying spot and is positioned to qualify for his second trip to the national championships in Austin with the eighth-best mark out of the region so far.

He will compete in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 8:45 p.m. CT for a chance to be top-12 in the region and earn a trip to Austin. The senior is also scheduled to compete in the 5,000m on Saturday at 10:45 p.m. CT.

Sophomore Trent Francom was the closest Jackrabbit to qualify for a trip to the NCAA Championships, missing the cut by just four inches - short of his PR and outdoor school record by 4.5 inches.

In his second consecutive appearance in the NCAA West Prelims, the Huron, S.D. native finished 14th (17-01.00) in the pole vault competition, improving his mark and place-finish from his freshman debut (28th, 16-04.75).

In the NCAA East Preliminaries, Francom may have made the national championship trip as the last qualifying marks were what he had reached this afternoon (17-01.00).

Another close qualifier was senior Cal Lawton, becoming the first 800m runner outside of the group to qualify for the quarterfinals with a sixth-place finish (1:50.11) in the third heat, 19th overall. Being just 0.02 seconds from his outdoor personal-best and tied No. 4 all-time mark for SDSU, he missed the last spot by 0.17 seconds.

Freshman Addison Eisenbeisz placed 43rd (5-05.00) in the high jump at her first-ever NCAA West Prelims. It's the best high jump mark by a Jackrabbit since Mary Wirth qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2015 (5-10.00).

UP NEXT
King and the 4x100m relay squad will prepare for the NCAA DI Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 5-8 in Austin, Texas. A full schedule can be found here while broadcasting options will be made available by ESPN.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on the South Dakota State cross country and track and field teams, follow the Jackrabbits on Twitter (@GoJacksTFXC) and Instagram (@GoJacksTFXC), and like us on Facebook (/GoJacksTFXC).

JACKRABBIT INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (WEEKEND COMBINED)
100m - Men - First Round
43. Hilton, Coby (10.63)

Sophomore Coby Hilton finished his 100m season by placing seventh in the opening heat of the 100m, 43rd overall. He becomes the second-ever Jackrabbit to compete in the 100m NCAA first round as teammate Daniel Clarke competed in the event last year.

200m - Men - First Round
41. Hilton, Coby (21.35)

Sophomore Coby Hilton finished sixth in the second heat of the 200m first round in Sacramento. He becomes the first male Jackrabbit to compete in the event first male to compete in both the 100m and 200m at the west prelims and first to compete in the 200m.

800m - Women - First Round
38. Covey, Oksana (2:09.57)

Sophomore Oksana Covey finished seventh in the fourth heat of the 800m competition, improving her mark from her 2017 NCAA West Prelim attempt (29th, 2:10.09).

1,500m - Men - Quarterfinal
14. Burdick, Kyle (3:43.14)
1,500m - Men - First Round
8. Burdick, Kyle (3:44.95Q)

Senior Kyle Burdick was able to qualify for the quarterfinal round with his best mark since his 2017 NCAA Championship run. In the finals, the Rapid City, S.D. native added his season-best and second-best career mark at SDSU to close out his collegiate career in the event, falling short of the qualifying spot by two positions.

1,500m Past Results for Burdick
2019 - First Round (8th - 3:44.95) - Qtr. (14th - 3:43.14)
2018 - First Round (23rd - 3:46.70) - Qtr. (18th - 3:46.66)
2017 - First Round (16th - 3:59.35) - Qtr. (7th - 3:48.15) - Semi - 13th (3:43.78)

5,000m - Men - Quarterfinal
46. Burdick, Kyle (14:51.26)

Senior Kyle Burdick notched his third consecutive attempt in the 5,000m at the NCAA West Prelims after competing in the quarterfinals of the 1,500m earlier on Saturday.

3,000S - Women - Quarterfinal
6. King, Rachel (9:50.15)

Senior Rachel King scored her sixth school-record reset by winning the third heat of the 3,000m steeplechase and finishing the quarterfinal round with the sixth-best mark in the west region. She cut 4.29 seconds from her previous-best set at the Stanford Invite earlier this season and will have the seventh-best time in the national championships with the best marks all coming out of the west.

She remains the only female Jackrabbit to compete at the DI national championships on the track and becomes the first Jackrabbit in west prelims era to qualify in back-to-back seasons, second in DI era since Sara Ackman did it the Midwest Regionals and West Prelims (2009-2010).

4x100m Relay - Men - Qtr. Final
12. A Team (39.99)
(1. Fr. Emmanual Phoulom-Smith, 2. So. Coby Hilton, 3. So. Daniel Clarke, 4. Jr. Sam Zenner)

The Jackrabbit squad qualifies for the last spot to go to Austin with a school-record mark by 0.13 seconds. It is the first sub-40-second performance by SDSU and it's The Summit League's first 4x100m relay team to qualify for nationals for men or women.

High Jump - Women - First Round
43. Eisenbeisz, Addison (5-05.00)

Freshman Addison Eisenbeisz placed 43rd in her first-ever NCAA West Prelims. It's the best high jump mark by a Jackrabbit since Mary Wirth qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2015 (5-010.00).

Pole Vault - Men - First Round
14. Francom, Trent (17-01.00)

Sophomore Trent Francom finished just four inches away from the last qualifying spots into the NCAA Championships at Austin, Texas, 4.5 inches from his PR and school record, however, he improved his place-finish and mark from his first-ever NCAA appearance (28th, 16-04.75).

The last qualifying spots at the NCAA East Prelims was 17-01.00.

Hammer Throw - Men - First Round
39. Ammons, Logan (189-10.00)

Ammons finished 10th in the opening flight of the hammer throw, finishing 39th overall. It was his first career appearance in the NCAA West Prelims.

-GoJacks.com-