Juan Scott qualifies for NCAA Div. II Men's Indoor Track & Field Championships

 

WILBERFORCE, Ohio - Central State University track & field athlete Juan Scott will compete at the NCAA Division II Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend.


Scott qualified for the championships by reaching the automatic and provisional standards established for 60 meter men's hurdles. He competes on the national stage this Friday at 2:30 pm cst (3:30 pm est). The finals will be held on Saturday at 5 pm cst (6 pm est).


Scott, who was named to the USTFCCCA South Region Athlete of the Year earlier this week, discussed his mindset going into national competition.


"I continue to focus on preparing myself mentally going into competition," Scott says. "I also make sure that I am eating right, getting a sufficient amount of rest and preparing for the atmosphere of national competition."


A sophomore from Dunbar High School in Dayton, Ohio, Scott has won all seven times he has competed in the 60 meter hurdles this season. Scott's best performance was on Feb. 16 at Ohio State University. Scott blazed across the finish line with a new personal best time of 7.82 seconds. He beat out OSU hurdlers DaJuan Seward (7.86) and Brent Carroll (7.91) for the top spot. The time of 7.82 seconds ranks as the fastest in all of NCAA Div. II this season.


Scott is the first Marauder to compete in the NCAA Indoor National Track & Field Championships in back-to-back seasons. As a freshman, Scott finished in 12^th place with a pace of 8.18. He went on to have one of the most successful outdoor seasons in CSU history capped off by a win in the 110 meter hurdles at the NCAA Div. II Outdoor Championships.


"I think a major difference going into the indoor national meet this year is Juan's level of confidence. He experienced a lot as a freshman and really evolved into a more complete hurdler during the outdoor season. He was able to go on and compete against the best of the best at the Penn Relays last year," CSU head track & field coach James Rollins says. "He made it to the finals and really proved that he belongs in the conversation as one of the top hurdlers in the nation. Since that time, he has gone on to win a national outdoor title and has recorded seven wins going into this week. He remains extremely motivated to solidify himself as one of the top hurdles in school history. If he continues to progress like he has, I think he will go down as the best hurdler to ever compete at Central State."


The championships will be held March 9 - 10 in Pittsburg, Kansas at the Robert W. Plaster Center. Pittsburg State University and the Crawford County Convention & Visitors Bureau will serve as co-hosts of the championships. The championships will be streamed live on NCAA.com (https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2018/03/09).

This year's NCAA Div. II Indoor Championship program can be accessed on - https://www.ncaa.com/DIITrackField.


The complete list of qualifiers is available at http://www.leonetiming.com/2018/Indoor/NCAADII/.