Women's Track & Field | 2/3/2020 10:50:00 AM
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—During the third competition of the year, the Southeastern University track and field team had three athletes hit NAIA National Championship qualifying standards at the Crossplex.
In the Women's 60 Meter Hurdles preliminaries, freshman
Ashley Epps hit the "A" Standard in a time of 8.84, which is the second-fastest time in the NAIA to qualify for the finals, where she finished seventh, running against four NCAA Division I runners.
In the Men's 60 Meter Hurdles,
Davonte Vanterpool scored three points with a sixth-place finish in a race that saw the top two runners break the meet record. The sophomore posted a time of 8.22.
The Fire also had a solid showing in the Women's 400 Meters with
Namiah Simpson placing fourth in 58.10,
Courtney Gales seventh in 58.35, and
Rachel Boyd eighth in 58.37 to all score. Simpson and Gales had already posted "A" Standard qualifying times in the event, and are currently in the top 10 nationally, and Boyd's time was good for a "B" Standard.
Yuriah Bigos joined Simpson, Boyd, and Gales on the 4x400 Relay team, which placed second by half of a second to Hinds Community College, and beat out teams from Samford, Alabama-Huntsville, and Memphis. The group posted a time of 3:51.94.
Julia Rohm hit the "B" Standard in the 5,000 Meters, posting a time of 18:18.25 which is good enough for an "A" Standard, but due to a banked track, converts to a "B" Standard. Rohm placed eighth in the event, and had previously qualified in the 3,000 Meters.
Kyle Manuel placed sixth in the Shot Put with a mark of 15.59 meters, with four of the five athletes ahead of him Division I members.
The team returns to action on Saturday at Webber International's Alumni Meet at Frostproof High School.
