ULM’s Jamel Sams reaches regional finals

Sams Advances to Regional Finals after Day One; Wesley Comes Just Shy of NCAA Finals

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For the third consecutive year, senior Jamel Sams moved on to the finals of NCAA East Regionals as he headlined day one of the competition for the ULM track & field program on Thursday at Hodges Stadium.

Sams sprinted for a season-best time of 51.78 in the 400m hurdles and was one of 24 runners to advance. He will race again on Friday at 7:45 p.m. needing to finish in the top-12 to head to Eugene, Ore., on June 10-13 for the NCAA Finals. He will look to avenge last year’s heartbreaking conclusion where he came 0.07 seconds away from qualifying.

No. 13 was the unlucky number this year for junior Corey Wesley in the long jump as he came one spot away from reaching the NCAA Finals. Wesley’s leap of 7.49m was just shy of Terance Boyd’s (Kentucky) 7.54m to advance. Wesley topped his 7.21m score from last year’s Regionals. He will have another shot on Saturday when he competes in the triple jump. Wesley is the only Warhawk to compete in two different events at Regionals.

Sophomore Jemal Parharm Jr. also competed in the long jump and finished in 24th-place in his first-ever Regional appearance. Parharm posted a mark of 7.24m. He closed out the year as runner-up in the event at the SBC Championships and solidified his spot on the All-Conference Second-Team.

In her second consecutive appearance at Regionals, sophomore Mi’Ca Lowe fired a 42.11m in the javelin. The mark was good for 40th overall and beat her throw of 38.64m from last year’s Regionals. Lowe finished the season as the Sun Belt Conference champion in the event and an All-Conference first-team selection.

The Warhawks will be back at it on Friday in the second of three days. In addition to Sams, junior Joey Womack will compete in the javelin, sophomore Alexis Gordon in the discus, sophomore Adriunna Brown in the long jump, senior Isaac Grieder in the pole vault and sophomore Jevaughn Shaw in the discus.