USF wraps up season at NCAA track and field finals

Junior hurdle jumper Sanique Walker took 17th place while competing in the 400 meter hurdles. USF ATHLETICS PHOTO

USF track and field completed its competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championship last weekend with athletes placing as high as 13th place in their events.

The championship took place in Eugene, Oregon where 170 schools competed in a series of events such as hurdles, relays and jumps.

South Florida started off strong during day one of the competition. Junior hurdle jumper Shaneylix Davila competed Thursday evening in the 100-hurdles run. Davila placed 20th overall in the competition with a time of 13.31, close to the time that qualified her at prelims of 13.22.

Sophomore jumper Shaniya Benjamin was competing the same day in the women’s long jump. This is the second time Benjamin has qualified for the NCAA finals. This year, she took 20th place with a jump of 5.90 meters.

In the next event, junior hurdle jumper Sanique Walker competed in the 400 meter hurdles. The race was tight between the other competitors but Walker was able to place 17th with a time of 58.42.

Competing in the high jumps final was junior jumper Romaine Beckford. He finished 13th overall with a jump of 2.15 meters. Beckford has been seen to reach heights of 2.18 a few times before, but this setback has caused him to not place at the top of the bracket.

Although the team was unable to leave the finals with any hardware, the Bulls reached the highest level of competition, which is a hard feat in itself. All the runners received an All-American Honorable Mention from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.