Thursday, May 23, 2013

XU Nuggets miss the mark on opening day of NAIA meet

MARION, Indiana -- Xavier University of Louisiana missed chances to advance and score points Thursday in the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships.

On the meet's opening day, the Gold Nuggets did not qualify for the semifinals of the 400-meter relay or the 200-meter dash. And Devinn Rolland, an All-America long jumper at this meet as a freshman in 2012, finished near the back of a field of two dozen athletes.

Xavier's 400 relay team of Chelsea James, Rolland, Tramaine Shannon and SiMon Franklin ranked 20th in the preliminaries in 50.10 seconds and missed qualifying for Saturday's final by slightly more than two seconds. XU coach Joseph Moses said his team led early in the race, but a right-hamstring injury to Franklin flared up during Wednesday workouts and prevented the Nuggets from advancing.

"The medical team up here did a great job wrapping her leg tight," Moses said. "I told Monee she didn't have to run, but she wanted to because she's a senior, and this is her last meet."

Rolland, who reached the NAIA's 200 semifinals a year ago, did not qualify this time. She ran 25.34 to rank 14th in the preliminaries, about a third of a second slower than the time she needed to advance.

In the long jump, Rolland ranked 22nd with a best mark of 16 feet, 10 inches. She needed 18-7 to qualify for the final, which Oklahoma Baptist freshman Akela Smith won with a mark of 20-10 on her next-to-last jump in the final.

Franklin will try to run Friday in the 400 preliminaries.

No Xavier men qualified for the meet.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

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