* Davis Going The Distance For BCU

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Embry-Riddle's known for having a fast track, but this weekend's Spikes Classic for Bethune-Cookman was highlighted by the jumps.

Sophomore Monae Nichols sprung into the national top 10 in the long jump while Quamecha Morrison reestablished herself among the national elite in the high jump as the Wildcats took advantage of the second weekend of the outdoor season to post qualifying teams for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference meet and perform in their hometown.

Nichols' leap of 20'6 ½" places her seventh in the nation while Morrison needed only one jump of 5'8 ¾" to win the event and rejoin the national top 25. She finished second at the NCAA Indoor National Championships with of 6'0 ¾".

"Monae obviously had a great weekend," said BCU Head Coach Donald Cooper.  And Quamecha continued her stunning year."

Both also had success on the track.  It was a Nichols-Morrison 1-2 finish in the hurdles (13.71 and 13.97 respectively) and both ran on the winning 4X400 relay team.  Morrison's 100 time of 11.79 200 time of 24.19 also has her in the top 100 in the nation, while Nichols won the triple jump (39'10) that has her on the cusp of NCAA national qualification.

The breakthrough performance came from Curtis Thomas on the men's side, who the 100 (10.41) and 200 (21.01) with times that place the junior 30^th and 34^th in those respective events.



"Curtis is showing he will be a force to reckon with this season," Cooper said of Thomas.

Other weekend highlights include:

• Isaiah Galloway cleared 6'8 ¾" for the second straight week to win the high jump. He's 53^rd in the nation.
• Jeremiah Peters (56'3 ¾") took the shot put.
• Thea Shaw, Dana Roberts and Kalista Torres qualified for MEAC in the heptathlon. Cooper delighted in Torres' effort, noting the junior was injured last year after being struck by a car.
• Carlin and Cameron Berryhill qualified in both the 5000 and 800 meters. Carlin Berryhill led Daniel Kiptoo and Xavier Walton in a 1-2-3 BCU finish in the 10000 meters.
• Indoor heptathlon champion Brent Heholt qualified for the decathlon along with Marc McCoy and are ranked 40^th and 41^st in the nation, respectively.
• Deja Davis took her signature event, the 10000 meters in 38:52.80.
• Asia Joe won the 400 (55.8).
• The Men's 4X100 relay team (41.42) clocked a 41.42 to win that event.

Cooper appreciated the hometown appearance.

"The athletes enjoyed having their administration, staff, faculty and peers come out and watch them compete," Cooper said. "The support was awesome." 
 
BCU heads to Jacksonville next weekend for the UNF Invite. It's an important meet, since UNF will host the NCAA East Regional in May.