Houston Headed to Nationals in 200m

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Taking 11th place overall, CSU sprinter Gabrielle Houston qualified for nationals in the 200-meter dash on Saturday at the 2012 NCAA East Preliminaries at Hodges Stadium Track & Field in Jacksonville, Fla.

Houston ran a season-best 23.43 to take fourth in her heat and 11th overall, marking a new CSU program record.  She dropped .14 seconds from her previous-season best of 23.57 set during yesterday’s finals. 

Prior to the NCAA Prelims, Houston had run a 23.65 to take first place in the event at the 2012 Big South Conference Championships in April. 

“I said to Gabby earlier in the day that today was going to be a good day,” said head coach Tosha Ansley.  “And it was.  I’m so proud of her and the way she represents our program.  We look forward to putting in some hard work and competing with the best of the best in the next few weeks.”

It marks the first appearance at the national meet for the Lady Bucs since 2009 when CSU’s 4 x 100 meter relay team of Houston, Misha Morris, Jessica Thomas and Dionne Gibson earned All-American designation with an eighth place finish in the event.  Houston will be the first individual since Gibson to qualify for the finals, as Gibson also ran the 200-meter dash in Fayetteville, Ark., that season.

The2012 NCAA National Championships will be held June 6-9 at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.