April 1, 2012
Complete Results
Reach T&F Contact Michael Stambaugh for more details by E-Mail
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After a PR-Heavy opening day for the Wildcats at the Best Western/UNF Invitational, the weather stunted Bethune-Cookman's ability to capitalize, as local thunderstorms produced lightning, first causing hours of delays and eventually the cancellation of the meet.
Freshman thrower Desiree Richardson was able to log the top individual performance for the Wildcats with a personal record throw of 13.24m (43-05.25 ft.) in the shot put for fifth place.
“Desiree had a big PR in the shot, showing that she's ready and wants to compete for points in our quickly arriving outdoor [MEAC] championship,” said Head Coach Donald Cooper.
In the short sprints, B-CU placed three in the 100m dash finals, but the event was cancelled on the second day. Shakira Garner placed 13th in the preliminaries with a PR time of 12.03. Meanwhile on the men's side, Chris Jackson (10.67) and Kemar Clarke (10.72) both reached the final with season best and MEAC qualifying times at ninth and 12th respectively.
Representing the Wildcats in distance events, Ricy Brown placed 11th in the 1500m run with a great showing at 4:03.38. In the women's 5000m run, Kadian Dunkley finished 17th, but set a PR time of 18:15.89 in the event.
In other field events, Akeem Barthol remained consistent in breaching 14 feet with a 15th place finish and a height of 4.40m (14-05.25). Multi-event athlete Nnamdi Davis stayed sharp in the javelin with a throw of 29.65m (97-03 ft.) for 15th.
Because of the cancellation, in addition to the finals of preliminary events, the Wildcats were unable to compete in some of their strongest events, including the men's 400m, 110m hurdles, the women's steeplechase, and any of their normal relays.
Now the focus for Bethune-Cookman sways to one of the largest meets on a national level in the outdoor season, the 73rd annual Pepsi Florida Relays, next Friday and Saturday at Florida's James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville. It will be a great opportunity to make some noise in B-CU's primary events with a select travel party.
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