Three freshmen TCU track and field athletes have earned top honors at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa throughout the last week of June.

Charles Silmon secured a spot on the United States Junior National Team last Thursday night, placing second overall in the men’s 100 meters. Kelsey Samuels and Larissa Matthews were named alternates to the national squad in the women’s shot put and 100-meter hurdles, respectively.

Silmon, the Mountain West Conference Men’s Most Outstanding Performance honoree, breezed to second-place accolades with a time of 10.33 seconds to grab the final spot on the USA Junior Squad. He qualified for the finals by clocking a preliminary time of 10.28 seconds, which was the fastest preliminary time at Drake Stadium. By crossing the finish line in second-place, the freshman from Waco will compete at the?IAAF?Junior World Championships in Canada next month.

In the women’s 100-meter hurdles, Matthews just missed making the national team, posting a time of 13.44 seconds to place third overall. She qualified for the finals, winning preliminary heat No. 4 with a time of 13.64 seconds.

Samuels, a Mesquite native, also had a strong outing in the women’s shot put in Des Moines, tossing the shot 49 feet, 1 inch on her fourth attempt to finish in third-place.