Charlotte Advances 4x100m Team to NCAA East Regional Championship in First Day of Action
May 30, 2008
Posting a third-place preliminary time of 44.52, the 4x100m team of Lajarsha Moses, Lamarra Currie, Courtney Patterson and Ebonie Cunningham advanced to the finals as the Charlotte 49ers contest in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field East Regional at Florida State University this weekend. The foursome, who join 13 other 49er student-atheletes competing at the meet, placed first in their preliminary heat Friday afternoon after entering the event ranked third in the region.
"The women's 4x100m did a good job advancing to the finals," head coach Robert Olesen said. "Coach [Tim] Hall ordered safe handoffs to ensure advancement to the final as we expected to be highly competitive even with a conservative approach to the exchanges. With a more aggressive handoffs in the final, we expect a faster time and at least a top three finish for the automatic qualifier to the national championships."
Moses, Currie and Patterson each also ran in the 100m preliminaries, 11.82, 11.55 and 11.65, respectively, with Currie and Patterson advancing to the finals. The duo then turned around to post a 24.10 and 24.19, respectively, in the 200m dash preliminaries.
On the field, junior Pat Springs finished seventh in the long jump with a 6.02m leap, placing her in the at-large pool for advancement to the nationals, with the list of selected student-athletes announced Tuesday afternoon.
"Pat didn't have her best day but she did secure a place in the at-large pool for advancement to nationals," Olesen said. "While we won't know officially until Tuesday if she will advance, after reviewing results from the four regional championship meets today and applying the advancement seeding protocol, I am fairly confident she will make the cut into the national long jump field for the second year in a row."
In other women's action, Sunita Brathwaite turned in a 14.30 100m hurdles performance, while junior Aja Jackson ran a 2:12.01 800m.
Tomorrow, senior standout Tsehaye Dagnachew, who ran a school record and Olympic Trials B qualifer at the prestigous Mt. SAC Relays during the regular season, will contest the 3000m course, entering the event ranked second in the region. Other competitors will include Danielle Brown in the triple jump and a 4x400m relay race for the team of Yvonna Hines, Cunningham, Olivia Brown and Kortnie Coleman.
On the men's side, freshman sprinter and Atlantic 10 Outdoor Rookie and Track Performer of the Year Darius Law finished the 400m in 46.81, his second-fastest career showing, placing him in 11th place overall as the second finishing freshman in the field. He followed up with a 21.35 200m. Fellow freshman Korel Mack ran a 14.42 in the 110m hurdles.
On the field, Tavaris Leak posted a 7.15m in the long jump preliminaries, while senior LaMarcus Outing suffered a hamstring strain on his first attempt in the same event and was unable to effectively complete the preliminaries.
Junior Adu Dentamo will compete in tomorrow's 3000m steeplechase, entering the race ranked 18th in the east region.
Live results for tomorrow's action are available at www.halfmiletiming.com.
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