The University of Redlands hosted its first Final Qualifying Meet on Ashel Cunningham Track on Thursday and Friday, with multiple competitors firing off marks that will likely punch their ticket to the NCAA Division III Championships.
The formal announcement for the national meet comes out on Sunday at 6 a.m. at www.ncaa.com. In order to qualify, men's competitors must rank in the top 20 for individual events, while the women include the top 22 individuals. The top 16 relays will also advance for both men and women.
Highlighting the successful meet for the Bulldogs, the men's 4x100 Relay of junior Taylor Browning (Carbondale, CO), sophomore Joey Colucci (San Jose, CA), freshman Myles Speegle (Castro Valley, CA), and senior Darron Usher (Rialto, CA) improved upon its season-best effort with a time of 41.20 to now rank seventh in Division III.
In addition, the Maroon and Gray' 4x400 Relay of Browning, junior Darren Centi (Auburn, CA), junior Antwain Morgan (Granada Hills, CA), and freshman Auston Tribble (Glenwood Springs, CO) uncorked a time of 3:14.78 for the quartet's fastest performance of the campaign. Currently, this places Redlands 16th in the nation, right on the cusp of qualification.
Individually, Colucci posted a career-best time of 10.64 in the 100, while Speegle quickly followed at 10.70. Browning went 21.61 in the 200 for the fastest of his career, as freshman Abhinav Nagpal (Cypress, CA) unleashed his personal best in the 800 at 1:57.27.
On the women's side, freshman Jasmine Ramos (Santa Fe Springs, CA) ran a time of 12.46 in the 100 and registered a time of 26.19 in the 200 for a pair of career-best performances. Freshman Alison Smith (McKinleyville, CA) recorded her first sub-25-second time in the 200, as she crossed the finish line in 25.98. She also uncorked a career-best time of 14.80 in the 100 Hurdles.
Furthermore, a pair of Ashel Cunningham Track men's records fell during the Redlands Final Qualifying Meet. Mickey Grimes broke his own mark in the 100 with today's time of 10.18, while Taekyong Park dismissed the previous standard in the 110 Hurdles by crossing the finish line in 13.58.
For the women, multiple standards were improved upon with impressive results. Kenyanna Wilson bettered the facility record in the 100 with a time of 11.24 and Isatu Fofanah reset the standard in the 200 at 23.65. Despite running the race by herself, Shale' Garland broke the record in the 400, completing the lap in 54.90. Both hurdle standards fell, as Hyelim Jung took down the mark in the 100 with her time of 13.61, while Jazmine Harper cruised to a new 400 standard in 1:02.07. Finally, the Cal Lutheran University 4x100 Relay of Kendall Sauter, Lauren Rohach, Amanda Hamilton, and Amy Galibpeau posted a new facility mark of 47.45, which improved upon a record to which three of them previously contributed in 2013. In addition, Kaite Yaeger improved upon her own record for the Redlands track by clearing a height of 12' 2", while Sierra Hansen matched her effort as well. Finally, Reny Colton fired off a leap of 39' 9 ¼" to reset the record in the Triple Jump.
