Bearkats To Compete In NCAA Preliminaries In Austin
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Action at the 2013 NCAA Division I West Outdoor Track and Field Preliminary Round begins Thursday for Sam Houston’s nine entries.
The three days of competition take place at Mike A. Myers Stadium and feature some of the nation’s premier student-athletes.
Qualifying teams and individuals advance to the 2013 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon on June 5-8, 2013.
To advance to the NCAA Finals in Oregon, each of the West Preliminary Round competitors must finish among the top 12 in their respective event.
Karique Stephen and Charles White enter the NCAA West meet with the highest regional rankings of any Bearkat, both competing in the triple jump.
Stephen, a senior from Baytown, stands No. 11 with a best mark of 51’ 9”.
White, a junior from Las Vegas, Nev., ranks No. 16 with a top performance of 51’ 3.75”.
The pair placed first and second in the triple jump at the Southland Conference championships in Lake Charles.
Sam Houston’s Brek Christensen and Trevor Sealy both will throw in the men’s hammer.
Sealy, a junior from Pearland, stands No. 26 with a top mark of 200 feet nine inches. Christensen, a senior from Cypress Fairbanks, owns a best throw 198 feet six inches to rank No. 30 in the competition.
In both the hammer and the triple jump, the 16 best marks (after tiebreakers) will qualify from the first round of three preliminary attempts to a final round of three tries.
The top 12 advance to the NCAA meet.
The hammer is scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m.
The triple jump will wrap up the meet Saturday at 6 p.m.
Matt Johnson, senior from Port Neches Groves, already has qualified for a trip to Eugene in the decathlon.
Johnson won the Southland Conference men’s decathlon championship last weekend in Lake Charles with a final point total of 7,496.
Johnson also will compete in the West Preliminary Round in the 110 hurdles where he will joined by teammate Matthew Viverette.
A junior from Barbers Hill, Viverette will compete in both hurdles events.
He comes into the meet ranked No. 23 in the 400 hurdles (51.54) and No. 25 in the 110 hurdles (14.11).
Johnson stands No. 45 in the 110 hurdles (14.35).
The first round of the 400 hurdles will start at 5 p.m. Thursday with the quarterfinals on Friday at 7:45 p.m.
The 110 hurdles first round is Friday at 5:30 p.m. with quarterfinals Saturday at 7:20 p.m.
Kristen Mitchell and Jarrick Wright will represent the Bearkats in the 100 meters. Mitchell, a junior from Houston, stands No. 29 in the West with a best time of 10.46 this spring.
Wright’s best mark is 10.56 which earned the Houston Eisenhower a No. 48 ranking.
The first round of the 100 meters is set for 6:55 p.m. Thursday with the quarterfinals to decide who advances to Oregon Friday at 6:45 p.m.
In both the hurdles events and the 100 meters, the top three finishers from six first round heats plus the next six fastest times will advance to the quarterfinals.
Shelbie Zotyka is the lone Sam Houston woman’s competitor in the NCAA West Meet.
The senior from Wallis won the Southland Conference women’s pole vault with a mark of 12 feet, 10.75 inches.
She enters the NCAA West Meet with a No. 43 regional ranking.
The women’s pole vault is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday.
Sam Houston’s NCAA West Preliminary Round Schedule:
Thursday, May 23
5 p.m. – Men’s 400 meter hurdles first round
6:55 p.m. – Men’s 100 meter dash first round
Friday, May 24
1 p.m. – Women’s pole vault
2 p.m. – Men’s hammer
5:30 p.m. – Men’s 110 meter hurdles first round
6:45 p.m. – Men’s 100 meter dash quarterfinals
7:45 p.m. – Men’s 400 meter hurdles quarterfinals
Saturday, May 25
6 p.m. – Men’s triple jump
7:20 p.m. – Men’s 110 meter hurdles quarterfinals
SHSU Brings In Collins As New Defensive Coordinator
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Mike Collins, formerly assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at McNeese State, is joining the Sam Houston State football staff, Bearkat director of athletics Bobby Williams and head coach Willie Fritz have announced.
Collins served two stints with McNeese State.
As an assistant to Bobby Keasler from 1991 to 1997, he coached linebackers as McNeese won four Southland Conference titles and played in the NCAA Division I national championship game in 1997.
“Mike Collins will be a super fit for us here at Sam Houston,” Fritz said. “I’ve known Mike a long time. He runs a similar defensive structure to what we have been doing here. We’re fortunate to get Mike at Sam Houston.”
Rejoining the Cowboy staff in 2008, he served as defensive coordinator and secondary coach.
The 2009 Cowboys were Southland co-champions and league runner-up in 2010.
While at McNeese, Collins coached six All-America selections as well as the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year three times.
“This is a great opportunity. I’m excited to be a Bearkat,” Collins said. “What interested me most about the position was the outstanding job Coach Fritz has done here at Sam Houston. I appreciate the way the team has played with such discipline. I’ve also seen the support the university administration has given the program. Sam Houston obviously is committed to success in athletics. I am thankful for the opportunity they have given me.”
Collins got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Louisiana-Monroe in 1983-84.
From there, he served as an assistant coach at Ouachita Parish High School before joining the staff at McNeese State in 1991.
He left McNeese after the 1997 season to work at his alma mater, Louisiana-Monroe, where he coached for five years.
Collins first served as linebacker coach in 1998 and then as the defensive coordinator for three years.
He took over as interim head coach at Louisiana-Monroe three games into the 2002 season before being named the teams’ permanent head coach on Nov. 20 of that year.
In 2003, Collins spent a season as an intern on the national championship staff of Nick Saban at LSU.
He then joined the Tiger staff full-time in March of 2004 as LSU’s linebackers coach.
In 2005 he moved to Northwestern State as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.
In 2007 he served as linebacker coach at Kilgore High School before returning for his second stint in Lake Charles with the Cowboys in 2008.
Collins is a 1983 graduate of Louisiana-Monroe, where he lettered for four years as a center in football.
He earned his master’s degree from Louisiana-Monroe in 1984.
He is married to the former Terri Brinson and the couple has two children, John Michael and Matt.
His father, Pat Collins, coached Louisiana-Monroe to a national title.
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