Jessica Lee Concludes Season Placing 39th in 100m Hurdles at NCAA East Regional

Friday, May 26

University of Kentucky Track & Field Complex - Lexington, KY

4:30 PM

Quinnipiac University

NCAA East Regionals

Jessica Lee Concludes Season Placing 39th in 100m Hurdles at NCAA East Regional

5/26/2017 6:00:00 PM | Women's Outdoor Track & Field

Lee Becomes Third Bobcat in Program History to Compete in NCAA Regional Event

By: QU Sports Information

RESULTS
PHOTO GALLERIES

LEXINGTON, Kentucky – Quinnipiac women's outdoor track and field junior standout Jessica Lee (Montgomery, New Jersey) saw her season come to an end on Friday afternoon as she placed 39^th in the 100m hurdles at the NCAA East Regional held at the University of Kentucky. Lee, who became just the third Bobcat to compete in an NCAA Regional event and the first-ever hurdler, concludes her 2016-17 season which stands as one of the best-ever in program history.

Jess Lee takes 7th in her heat with a time of 13.85 seconds #NCAATFeast pic.twitter.com/aRps04t5Ju
— Quinnipiac Track/XC (@QUTFXC) May 26, 2017

"Usually at the end of my races I make a big push and that's where I excel but today my head said go and my legs were just not cooperating," Lee said after the event. "I would've liked to have done better but still a great season and I'm proud of what I accomplished."

Racing in lane nine in the second heat of the first round of the 100m hurdles preliminaries, Lee clocked in at 13.85 seconds to place 39^th in the overall standings. With 24 of the participants advancing to Saturday's quarterfinal round, Lee finished outside of the select group and will fly back home to New Jersey with plenty to be proud of after a tremendous dominant season for the Bobcats.

Lee's stellar junior campaign comes to an end in what will be remembered as one of the greatest in program history. Taking the track as just the third NCAA Regional participant and the lone hurdler to compete at NCAA Regionals in program history, Lee held her own against some of the elite hurdle talent in the world.

"We're really proud of Jess," said Quinnipiac head coach Carolyn Martin. "This entire season for her has been storybook. Couldn't have asked for a better season. Just getting out here was really exciting. Very big stage for her. She dominates the east so this definitely put her on a big stage. It was an exciting race, she ran her hardest and and just didn't have enough to qualify for the next round. Still very proud of her performance today and what she accomplished this season."

Starting out in the second heat of the evening in the event, Lee placed seventh out of eight runners in her designated heat. The top three finishers from Lee's heat all earned an automatic spot into the next round which included Jeanine Williams of Georgia Tech (10^th, 13.35 seconds), Amber Hughes of Tennessee State (20^th, 13.47) and Ebony Williams of Clemson (25^th, 13.53). Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Kentucky clocked in with the fastest first round time at 12.79 seconds.

Seeded 44^th in the event, Lee moved up five spots from her ranking heading into the event while she finished ahead of hurdlers from high-major programs including Florida and Mississippi State.

"I can count on one hand how many times she's lost this season," Coach Martin said. "She was basically undefeated the entire season. It's impressive to have an athlete come in and be able to do that with such confidence. She learned to really be confident in her ability. It's such a technical event and you really have to be on with a tremendous amount of focus and she's so good at doing that. She's awesome, we love having her on the team and we can't wait to see what she does next season."

A distinguished student-athlete, Lee's 2016-17 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.

"It was an amazing season," Lee said. "Going into it I never thought I would find myself here and today's performance just makes me want to do better next year."

To put into perspective how dominant Lee has been this season, the numbers will tell the full story. Entering the NCAA Regionals, Lee appeared in 14 hurdle events in the 2016-17 track and field season. In those 14 events, Lee competed against a cumulative total of 443 hurdlers…she was bested by just 13 competitors. Owning what accumulates to a record of 430-13 in her 14 hurdle appearances, Jess finished in the Top 10 in every event and within the Top 5 in all but one (11 victories).

Lee was crowed the MAAC's Most Outstanding Track Performer at the indoor championships, won her second consecutive New England 60m hurdles title, became the first ECAC Indoor Champion (60m hurdles) and first two-time ECAC Champion (60m hurdles, 100m hurdles) in program history and finished an impressive third in a crowded field at the Penn Relays.