Track and Field

LADY GOLDEN BULLS FINISH IN THE TOP 10 AT THE 2009 NCAA DII OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

May 25, 2009

San Angelo, TX - The Johnson C. Smith University women's outdoor track and field team returned from the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships held at the LeGrand Sports Complex (on the campus of Angelo State University) in San Angelo, Texas on May 21-23 with four All-Americans: Shermaine Williams, Rosemarie Carty, Nikki Boston, and Lakaevia Tyler.              

Rosemarie Carty (l) takes baton from Shermaine Williams

The highlight of the ladies performance was sophomore Shermaine Williams' performance in the 100m hurdles.  Williams captured her third NCAA title in two years and came so close to establishing her third national record.  Williams scorched the track on Saturday night; winning in the fastest time ever recorded by a Division II sprint hurdler at the championship meet.  Her time of 12.95 is faster than the existing record (12.99), but Williams was denied the record due to a wind speed of 2.4 meters per second. The allowable limit is 2.0.

Freshman Rosemarie Carty ended her sensational first NCAA season with second place in the 100m hurdles. Carty achieved a personal best of 13.40 in her prelims and repeated the time in the final. "At the end of the meet JCSU is proud to have not only the #1 and #2 sprint hurdlers in the nation, but also the #1 and #5 junior sprint hurdlers (age 19 or less) in the world based on the IAAF world rankings," says head coach Lennox Graham.

Sophomores Nikki Boston and Lakaevia Tyler teamed with Carty and Williams to place sixth in the nation in the 4x100m relay.  The team achieved a season best time of 46.23 in the prelims and returned 46.43 in the final.

Boston ended a great year as the most improved female athlete on the women's outdoor team. She concludes the season ranked ninth in the nation in both the 100m hurdles and the 400m hurdles.  Boston also achieved her PB (13.99) in the 100m hurdles and her second best time (61.23) in the 400n hurdles to cap a remarkable 2009 season.

Tyler burned up the third leg of the 4x100m to earn her first All-American award in NCAA track and field.  Freshman Monique Kelly was the alternate on the 4x100m relay team.

On the men's side, JCSU placed 16th in the team rankings at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championship with 14 points (all earned by sophomore Leford Green).  Green placed second in the 200m (20.66, PB) and third in the 400m (46.26) to complete his third All-American performance in two years. Green ends the season the top ranked 200m performer and the third ranked 400m performer in the nation.

Green teamed with sophomores Alberto DeCosta, Richard Harkness and John Rosemond to finish as the 10th ranked 4x400m team in the nation.  The team achieved 3:14.11 to finish fourth in heat one and just two places outside qualifying for the event final. Senior Demetrius Hawkins was the alternate on the 4x400m relay team.

This was the final meet for most of the members of both men's and women's teams. Shermaine Williams and Rosemarie Carty will run next at their country's national trials in an attempt to qualify for the Pan Am Junior Championships in Trinidad and Tobago July 31 - August 1, 2009.  Leford Green will next compete at his country's national trials in an attempt to make the World Championships team in Berlin, Germany August 15-23, 2009.