Eight one-thousandths of a second. Eight one-thousandths of a second were what separated freshman sprinter Brianne Bethel from being a dual conference champion.
The international student from the Bahamas entered the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship with the goal of helping lead the women to their first conference title in over a decade. Ultimately the women fell short of their goal, but Bethel managed to reach the podium three times over the course of the weekend.
Coming into the meet, Bethel was already having a very strong season. She had returned to the Bahamas in April to represent her home country at the IAAF World Relays. There Bethel helped the Bahamas 4x100m relay team qualify for the IAAF World Championships in London this August.
So coming into the championship meet, hosted by the Cougars, she was not short of confidence. The meet was a way for her to show she could have success individually as well as on a team.
In the 100m preliminary races the Cougars owned five sprinters but Bethel was the only one to qualify for the final. But she qualified with the overall fastest time, 11.43s, one tenth of a second faster than the next best time. Her time broke the meet record at the time.
In the 200m prelims the Cougars again owned five sprinters but again Bethel was the only one to reach the final. But for the second straight race she came out with the fastest qualifying time 23.29s.
However on the day of the final she came up second in both races despite shortening her times. In the 100m she ran 11.40s to SMU's Chelsea Francis' 11.34s. Then in the 200m final only two one thousandths separated Bethel from SMU's Latessa Johnson as they ran 23.12s to 23.10s respectively.
Despite falling short of gold, Bethel now leads the Cougars in both events. Her times in the finals are the No. 19 and No. 22 best times in the NCAA West. After the women failed to qualify any athlete for the Indoor NCAA Championships, it is their goal to get as many as possible to the Outdoor Championships in Oregon this June.
Bethel will be joined by two fellow sprinters at the NCAA West Regional in Austin this Thursday, senior Tori Williams and freshman Sierra Smith.
Williams joins Bethel in both the 100m and 200m. Her 11.50s 100m at the Houston Alumni Invitational is currently No. 34 in the NCAA West, while her 23.18s 200m time at the same meet is No. 24.
Smith also qualified for the regional at the Houston Alumni Invitational. Her 11.52s time in the 100m stands as the No. 38 best time.
All three will be eligible to represent the Cougars again in the 4x100m relay. Bethel and Smith ran with fellow freshmen Samiyah Samuels and Justice Henderson on the team that finished second at the conference meet. Again, only two one-thousandths of a second separated Bethel from a gold medal as the team from Cincinnati out ran them 44.35s to 44.33s.
The Cougars are seeded with the ninth best time at 44.23s. The team only needs to place in the top 12 to qualify for the championships. If they can match their qualifying time their ticket should be booked easily.
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