Riggs, Williams 14th at nationals in preliminaries

GULF SHORES, Alabama — Xavier University of Louisiana sophomore Justyce Riggsfinished 14th in the women's 100-meter dash Friday, the second day of the NAIA National Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
     
Riggs, competing less than 70 miles from her hometown of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., posted a time in the preliminaries of 12.11 seconds. She missed qualifying for the final by seven-hundredths of a second.
     
The Gold Nuggets had three of the 32 sprinters in the 100. Alexis Milton was 25th in 12.32, and Martina Latting was 31st in 12.69.
     
In the Gold Nuggets' other events at nationals:
     •  Ariane Williams was 14th out of 19 runners in the 400 preliminaries in 57.72. The eighth and final qualifying time for the final was 56.31. Williams was a finalist and All-America in this event a year ago.
     •  The 1,600-relay team of Janelle Jones, Williams, Ry-Anne Riley and Clarke Allen was 12th out of 23 in the preliminaties in 3:50.41. The eighth and final qualifying time for the final was 3:48.18.
     •  Alysia Terry was 21st out of 25 in the triple jump in 10.77 meters/35 feet, 4 inches. The ninth and final qualifying mark was 11.40 meters/37 feet, 5 inches.
     
There will be no Gold Nuggets competing in Saturday's finals.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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