Friday, May 24, 2013

Saint Augustine's University Shatters 29-Year Division II Men's 4x100 Relay Record at NCAA Championships

The St. Aug 4x100 Relay Team: From Left
to Right - Taffawee Johnson, Burkheart Ellis, Jr.,
Ramaan Ansley, and Jermaine Jones
PUEBLO, Colorado  -- Saint Augustine's University broke the national Division II record in the men's 4x100 meter relay with a time of 39.01 seconds on the first day of the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at the Neta and Eddie DeRose Thunderbowl on the Colorado State University of Pueblo campus.

The St. Aug foursome of Ramaan Ansley (Sr./Philadelphia, Pa.), Taffawee Johnson (Jr./St. Ann, Jamaica), Burkheart Ellis, Jr. (Jr./Raleigh, N.C.) and Jermaine Jones (So./Wilmington, N.C.) shattered the 29-year old mark held by Abilene Christian, which ran 39.20 in 1984. The time also broke the facility record of 39.88 at the DeRose Thunderbowl.

The Falcons ran the 14th fastest time in the United States this year. They easily won Heat 2 in the preliminaries to advance to Saturday's final, which starts at 7:20 p.m. eastern standard time. The Falcons entered the championship meet as the top-ranked 4x100 team in Division II.

The 4x100 relay team set the tone for the day. Dane Hyatt (Jr./Goodwill, Jamaica) won Heat 2 of the men's 400 meter dash in a facility-record time of 45.78 seconds, which was fastest among 400 meter qualifiers. Josh Edmonds (Jr./Jacksonville, Fla.), Ellis, Jr. and James Quarles (Jr./Washington, D.C.) also qualified in 400.

Jones was the victor in Heat 1 of men's 100 meter dash in 10.26. He qualified for Saturday's finals along with Johnson and Daniel Jameison (Fr./Windsor, Conn.). Elhadji Mbow (Jr./Dakar, Senegal) qualified for the men's 400 hurdles a time of 51.35, second-best among qualifiers.

On the women's side, Kelly Shaw (Sr./Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) wins Heat 2 of the women's 400 meter dash in 53.26. Nicketa Bernard (Sr./Westmoreland, Jamaica) and Cherrisse Lynch (So./Bridgetown, Barbados) also qualified for Saturday's finals.

The championship meet continues Friday, May 24. It will be shown live on the Internet at 7:30 p.m. eastern standard time on ncaa.com and saintaugfalcons.com. For live results, click on pttiming.com and ncaa.com.

COURTESY SAINT AUGUSTINE'S UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF SPORTS INFORMATION

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