Hill and Williams Advance to NCAA Championships

May 26, 2012

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—All-American Devon Hill and sophomore Samantha Williams qualified for the NCAA Championships on the final day of the NCAA East Region Preliminaries in Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday.

Williams recorded the school’s third-best performance in the triple jump with a mark of 13.43 (w +2.9) (44’ ¾”).

“I was pretty confident going into the weekend and grateful for the opportunity to compete in both of my events,” said Williams. “However, after Thursday’s disappointing performance in the long jump, I was down on myself and started to question if the triple was going to be the same.”

Williams opened the competition with a leap of 12.53m and on her second turn, she hit the best mark of her career. Williams made one more jump and then passed on the remaining three turns.

“I read my devotional this morning, and it said, ‘I am the God of the World…is there anything too hard for me?’ stated Williams. “I immediately felt a sense of ease and was ready for the competition.”

In the men’s quarterfinals of the 110-meter hurdles, Hill won his heat in a time of 13.41 to record the fastest time of the day in the event.

In the women’s hammer throw, senior Ashley Holmes placed 34th with a mark of 53.52 meters (175’7”).

Hill and Williams will join freshman Amber Monroe (discus) and sophomore Thandi Stewart (400mH) in the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, June 6-9, as they compete for national titles.