Courtesy of Texas Southern Athletics
The Texas Southern men’s track & field trio of Kenneth Pree, Turey Stoudemire and Chad Williams earned a berth to the 2023 NCAA West preliminary competition in Sacramento, Calif.
This marks the third consecutive regional appearance for both Pree and Williams as Pree is looking for a return to the national championship while Williams seeks his first bid. Stoudemire is a true freshman making his NCAA postseason debut.
Pree, who participated in the 2021 NCAA Championship, had a personal best jump of 7.83 meters (25-8.25 feet) which moved him up the charts nationally in addition to solidifying his second SWAC long jump title several weeks ago.
Williams, the Co-Most Outstanding Field Performer at the SWAC Championship, posted a length of 15.24 meters (50 feet) at the SWAC Championship to qualify in the triple jump. The Kingston, Jamaica native is peaking at the right time as he posted a personal best jump of 15.29 meters (50-2) last week to win the Rice All-Comers Meet.
Stoudemire qualified for the regional due to this performance at the SWAC Championship in early May. The freshman from The Woodlands, Texas jumped a personal best 2.14 meters (7-0.25) en route to a second-place finish.
TSU men’s track & field also is in elite company as less than 10 schools in the country (Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Louisville, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas Southern) have a 50-foot-plus triple jumper, a 7-foot high jumper and a 25-foot-plus long jumper.
Pree jumps next Wednesday (May 24) at 8 p.m. CST while Stoudemire jumps at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 26. Williams is scheduled to jump at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 27.
At stake is a berth to the NCAA National Championships in Austin, Texas which runs June 7-10. To qualify, the athletes will need to finish in the top 12 of their respective events.