QU Women’s Outdoor Track & Field’s Shameal Samuels Places 40th in 400m at NCAA East Regionals

Thursday, May 26

Hodges Stadium - Jacksonville, FL

7:20 PM

Quinnipiac University

NCAA East Regionals

QU Women’s Outdoor Track & Field’s Shameal Samuels Places 40th in 400m at NCAA East Regionals

5/26/2016 8:01:00 PM | Women's Outdoor Track & Field

Samuels Becomes Just the Second Bobcat to Become a Two-Time NCAA Regional Participant

By: QU Sports Information

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Shameal Samuels (Hartford, Connecticut) made history on Thursday evening for the Quinnipiac women's outdoor track and field team as she competed against some of the world's fastest athletes, taking the track in the 400m at the NCAA East Regionals down in Jacksonville, Florida. Samuels, who became just the second Bobcat to become a two-time NCAA Regional participant, placed 40^th in the first round of the 400m and finished outside of qualifying for the quarterfinals. The history run for Samuels and Quinnipiac is the last for the Bobcat in what was the best single-season in program history.

"I am really proud of Shameal," said Quinnipiac head coach Carolyn Martin. "Not only did she have an outstanding season but she is truly helping lift our program to new heights. She came out here and gave it her best and today it just wasn't enough to get her to advance."

Racing in lane three in the third heat of the first round of the 400m preliminaries, Samuels clocked in at 54.35 seconds to place 40^th in the overall standings. With 24 of the participants advancing to Friday's quarterfinal round, Samuels finished outside of the select group and will fly back to Hamden with plenty to be proud of after another dominant season for the Bobcats.

Samuels' incredibly dynamic senior campaign comes to an end in what will be remembered as one of the greatest in the history of Quinnipiac track and field. Taking the track as just the second two-time NCAA Regional participant and still the lone sprinter to compete at NCAA Regionals in program history, Samuels held her own against some of the most elite sprint talent in the world.

Starting out in the third heat of the evening in the 400m, Samuels placed sixth out of eight runners in her designated heat. The top three finishers from Samuels' heat all earned an automatic spot into the next round which included Sonikqua Walker of Ohio State (6^th, 52.37), Domonique Williams of Alabama (19^th, 53.02) and Erika Rucker of South Carolina (23^rd, 53.09). Robin Reynolds of Florida finished with the top time in the first round at 51.85 seconds.

After finishing 47^th in the 2015 NCAA East Regional, Samuels moved up seven spots this season while she also finished ahead of sprinters from name programs including Alabama, Ohio State, Cincinnati and Miami (FL).

A distinguished student-athlete, Samuels' 2015-16 senior season has been one of the most dynamic in recent memory as she starred in the indoor and outdoor season while building her case for the most prolific athlete in program history.

In the indoor season, Samuels captured the MAAC Championship in both the 200m and 400m while posting a season-high time of 54.25 that placed her fifth at the 2016 ECAC Indoor Championships. Samuels capped her indoor career as the three-time defending MAAC 400m Champion as well as the two-time defending MAAC 200m Champion. Her illustrious indoor career included six MAAC titles including two New England 400m gold medals. In the 2015 New England Championships, Samuels broke a 27-year-old meet record with a time of 53.72 seconds to capture the New England title for the second straight season.

Samuels' 2016 outdoor season included many stellar outings as she shined at the MAAC Championships as the three-time defending 200m conference gold medalist. That 200m title was the sixth of Samuels' outdoor career at the MAAC Championships while she most-recently put together the best run of her career, winning the 2016 ECAC 400m Championship with a program record time of 53.35 seconds. That record-setting performance marked the first time a Bobcat has won an ECAC gold medal as Samuels, racing against the best competition from across the east coast, bested the runner-up by 0.92 seconds.

Samuels and the Bobcats now shift their focus to what will be another much-anticipated 2016-17 campaign wherein Quinnipiac hopes to build off a tremendous 2015-16 season that featured many team and individual standouts. With seven individual event victories each at the 2016 MAAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships, most of any school in the conference, the Bobcats will look to build off that success which translated into back-to-back runner-up finishes in the conference standings.