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 14^th 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