The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett @tribunemedia.net

SIX Bahamian student athletes earned berths to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with their performances at respective regional preliminaries this weekend.

It was a round that produced an NCAA-leading performance for Latario Collie-Minns in the West and new school records for Devynne Charlton and Carmiesha Cox in relays in the East.

The National Championships take place from June 10-13, hosted by the University of Oregon at Hayward Field in Eugene.

The West preliminary was hosted by the University of Texas at Mike A Myers Stadium in Austin. The Texas A and M Aggies, with their second ranked men’s team, featured both seniors Collie-Minns and Shavez Hart.

Collie-Minns finished as the region’s no.1 overall seed in the triple jumper with a leap of 16.55m (54ft 3 3/4in) over two feet further than the remainder of the field.

Hart will head to Eugene with qualifications in both short sprints. In the 100m, he placed third in his heat with a wind-aided time of 10.15 secs (2.4 wind) to advance.

Hart also advanced in the 200m when he won his heat in 20.63 secs, the fourth fastest time in the region.

In the  4 x 100m relay Hart teamed with Elijah Morrow, Devin Jenkins and Deon Lendore to win their heat in 39.05 secs and qualify for the nationals.

“My main focus was to get through the rounds and finish in the top three,” Hart told the Aggies athletic website www.12thman.com. “I worked on my execution and my push. I had a good reaction, but my drive phase wasn’t as good. I’m learning to stay patient and not get too hyped with others in the same race as me. I wanted to build up a rhythm going into Eugene and this was a nice prep race for nationals.”

The Aggies qualified 28 athletes for nationals, including 15 men and 13 women.

Also in the West, redshirt junior sprinter Tynia Gaither qualified individually in the 100m and as a member of the 4 x 100m relay team.

Gaither finished third in the final heat of the quarterf-inals in a wind aided 11.32 secs (+2.5 wind), ranking her eighth overall in the region.

In the 4 x 100m, Gaither overcame an ailing hamstring to finish strongly and led her team to victory in 44.50 secs in their heat. Slowed by the hamstring down the stretch, Gaither ran valiantly and limped her way to the finish and the fifth fastest time in the region.

The Trojans earned 25 individual spots at the NCAA Championships, and an additional three relay teams.

The East preliminary was hosted by the University of North Florida and the City of Jacksonville at Hodges Stadium. Charlton and Cox both qualified for the Purdue Boilermakers.

Charlton qualified individually in the 100m hurdles and finished second in her heat with a time of 13.21 secs. Her time was the 10th fastest of the quarter-finals.

She was also a member of the 4 x 100m relay alongside Cox, Savannah Carson and Brionna Thomas.

They broke the school record with a time of 43.97 secs and advanced  to the nationals with the second-fastest time of the heat.

Cox and the women’s 4 x 400m relay team, which included Aaron Jones, Symone Black and Thomas, also set a new school record and advanced to Eugene in a time of 3 mins 31.70 secs.

Also in the East region, Teray Smith, of Auburn University, qualified individually in the 200m and as a member of the 4 x 100m team. He was one of seven members of the Tigers team to advance.

The sophomore sprinter ran a personal best of 20.60 secs to finish tenth overall.

In the 4 x 100m relay, Smith and his team qualified in a time of 39.66 secs. There were several other Bahamian student athletes who competed at the regional preliminaries but were unable to advance.

In the West, Trevor Mackey, of Texas Tech, came up short in the 100m, 37th overall, in 10.47 secs and 200m, 35th overall, in 21.33 secs.

In the East, Henri Delauze, of Miami, finished 36th overall in the 400m in 47.49 secs while Ashley Riley, of Southeastern Louisiana, was 38th overall in 47.48 secs.

Danielle Gibson, of Penn State, was 44th in the long jump at 5.55m (18ft 2 1/2in) and 31st in the triple jump at 12.31m (40ft 4 3/4in).

Tayla Carter, of West Carolina, finished 34th overall in the 200m in 23.96 secs and seventh in her heat and 31st overall in the 100m with a time of 11.79 secs.

It was the the third straight year Carter has advanced to the NCAA East preliminary in both the 100m and 200m events.

Kinard Rolle, of Purdue, and his 4 x 400m relay team finished 19th with a time of 3min 8.74 secs and missed qualifying by just over two seconds.

To qualify for these preliminary rounds, individuals had to be among the top 48 in their event, while relay teams had to be among the top 24. For the nationals, the top 24 competitors from each individual event and 12 teams from each relay event advanced.