Two School Records Set; Howard Advances at NCAA Track & Field East Regional

Thursday, May 24

Tampa, Fla.

All Day

Temple University

NCAA East Regional

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Two School Records Set; Howard Advances at NCAA Track & Field East Regional

5.24.18 | Women's Track and Field

TAMPA, Fla. - Millie Howard set a school record in the first round of the 1,500 meter at the NCAA East Region Preliminary, and in the process placed 14th overall to advance to the quarterfinal round on Saturday, May 26. Two other Owls also competed for Temple track & field on day one of the regional meet, with Helene Gottlieb also setting a school record in the 800 meter.

1,500 Meter Run
> Howard's time of 4:18.73 was over two seconds better than her previous personal best of 4:21.02 in late March, and broke the school record set by Blanca Fernandez.
> She finished sixth in her heat and 14th overall of the 24 runners who will advance to Saturday's quarterfinals.
> On Saturday, the top 12 finishers will qualify for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. in June.

"Millie ran a very solid race and put herself in the pack to survive and advance to the next round. We feel she has a very good chance of getting to the NCAA Championships and things are looking really good for her. She's very confident, and setting a school record to get to this level speaks volumes to how the season is so long and you can still put yourself in this position. But we hope everything falls into place for her on Saturday, and we'll see what happens." - Head coach Elvis Forde

800 Meter Run
> Gottlieb broke Howard's recent school record with a time of 2:07.10, but finished just two spots and two tenths of a second away from qualifying for the next round.
> Overall, Gottlieb placed 26th, significantly better than projected based on her qualifying time for the regionals.

"Helene set a personal best and a school record and had to run quite fast to do that, but unfortunately was not able to advance. The crazy thing is that she came in 48th based on time and then placed 26th, just barely missing a chance to qualify. For a freshman to come this far and do this well is really nice to see. She's grown up tremendously over just the last few weeks. Her performance at the conference meet gave her a lot of confidence. Now her season is done and she can come home, rest up, and come back ready for cross country season." - Coach Forde

High Jump
> Freshman Aisha Brown placed 22nd with a mark of 1.70 meters, falling short of her performance at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships when she placed second with a personal-best mark of 1.82 meters.
> There was just a single round of the high jump, with only the top 12 advancing to the NCAA Championships.

"It was a difficult day for Aisha and she didn't really compete at the level she expected to or at the level we expected her to perform. She was somewhat disappointed but she had a very successful freshman campaign overall. Now she needs to get some rest before coming back in August for women's soccer. I think her body needs a break, and I think she'll come back next year just a little wiser and ready for a new year."

Final Thoughts
> "It was a hot day and that took some adjustment for everybody. I give credit to Coach James Snyder and Coach Tramaine Ellison for their work with the runners (Snyder) and high jump (Ellison), with all three having had a fantastic year. These three being so young are really the foundation for what we look to build on. Congratulations to them and now we look forward to Saturday for Millie." - Coach Forde

Up Next
> Howard will race in the 1,500 meter quarterfinals on Saturday at 1:15 p.m.