3-Time BCU All-American Ash moves to Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma hurdler Ronnie Ash and triple jumper Will Claye have been named to the pre-season watch list for the 2010 Bowerman Award, collegiate track and field's top individual honor. With only 10 individuals named to the watch list for the award that is the equivalent to the Heisman, the Oklahoma Track and Field program is one of only two in the nation to have multiple athletes on the watch list joining the University of Oregon with two athletes.

Both athletes enter the 2010 season with NCAA titles to their name as Ash, a junior and recent transfer from Bethune-Cookman, won both the 60-meter hurdles and 110-meter hurdles NCAA titles in 2009 and Claye, a sophomore, claimed the NCAA outdoor triple jump title. A newcomer to the OU program, Ash arrives in Norman as the nation's top-ranked collegiate hurdler having won the 2009 NCAA titles in the 60- and 110-meter hurdles. The junior from Raleigh, N.C., was a three-time MEAC Champion while at Bethune-Cookman and earned three All-America honors as well.

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Bethune Cookman's Ash finishes 3rd in 110m hurdles

TOLUCA, Mexico -- Bethune-Cookman rising sophomore Ronnie Ash finished third in the 110-meter hurdles at the North America, Central America and Caribbean Under-23 Track & Field Championships.

The 19-year-old All-American finished in 13.72 seconds behind winner and fellow American Jason Richardson. Ash, who is recovering from a strained hamstring, also finished third to Richardson, who attends the University of South Carolina, in last month's NCAA Track and Field Championships.

"I'm happy with him coming off the aches and pains," B-CU track and field coach Garfield Ellenwood said. "He hadn't actually raced since the NCAAs. It's been a great year for him."

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B-CU hurdler to compete in track championships

Freshman Ronnie Ash has been selected to represent Team USA for the 110-meter hurdles in the NACAC under-23 Championships in Toluca, Mexico.

Ash, 19, is the first runner in Bethune-Cookman history to represent the U.S. The NACAC is the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association. The event takes place every other year, and involves teams comprised of the best athletes under 23 from the United States, Canada and Caribbean.

"This is a truly a huge honor for Ronnie," head coach Garfield Ellenwood said. "He worked extremely hard all season, earned All-America status for himself and the school, and now represents not only B-CU but also Team USA in the NACAC games. What a huge, huge honor for a freshman."

BCU Freshman Ronnie Ash (Lane #6) has All-American race for third place finish in NCAA Outdoor National Championships and does not get his name called once by TV announcers.


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Bethune Cookman's Ash finishes third in NCAA's

DES MOINES, Iowa - After finishing fourth in the semifinals Friday evening, Bethune-Cookman University freshman track runner Ronnie Ash took third place in Saturday men's 100-meter hurdles finals at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Ash turned in his second-best performance of the season with a time of 13.59 seconds.

File photo courtesy of Nigel Cook/News-Journal.

The third-place time was also good enough for Ash to collect All-America honors. He is the first recorded freshman All-American in Bethune-Cookman history. The last All-American performer for Bethune-Cookman was at the 2006 NCAA Indoor Championships when Lewis Brown earned the award following an eighth-place finish in the triple jump.

Ash's time of 13.59 was behind second-place competitor Ty Akins (13.46) of Auburn and the winner Jason Richardson (13.40) from South Carolina.

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The Natural: B-CU star has found competitive spirit

DAYTONA BEACH -- Ronnie Ash can't really explain his reluctance to play organized sports. Like a homecoming queen playing hard-to-get, he rebuffed his high school suitors year after year.

Basketball coaches, football coaches -- you name it -- they all drooled when they saw the lithe 6-foot-3, 190-pounder ambling down the hallways. They all recruited. They were all rejected, until Knightdale, N.C., High School track coach David Castell finally got a bite in Ash's senior year and was able to reel him in.

Now a freshman at Bethune-Cookman, Ash's rapid rise in track and field might even astound all of the spurned coaches who envisioned greatness for this young man. Ash will compete in the 110-meter hurdles at the NCAA Division I track and field championships this week at Des Moines, Iowa.

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