Darden Sets School Record In The 400-Hurdles

April 22, 2004

Philadelphia, Pa. (hurricanesports.com) – University of Miami sophomore Dominique Darden (Harrisburg, Pa.) finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles in a school-record time of 57.24 seconds at the 2004 Penn Relays being held at Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.

Darden, who was competing in the event for just the third time of her career, broke the old school-record of 57.43 set by Patrina Allen in 1998. Her time is the fifth-fastest by a collegian this year.

Miami’s fourth-ranked 4×100-meter relay of junior Chinela Davis (Haverstraw, N.Y.), junior Lauryn Williams (Rochester, Pa.), Darden, and sophomore India Ransom (Largo, Md.) won its preliminary heat with a time of 44.48 to advance to Friday’s final.

The relay, which posted the second fastest time of the preliminary round, will face a NCAA Championship quality field in the final including No. 1 ranked LSU, No. 5 South Carolina, No. 6 Louisiana Tech, No. 7 Penn State and No. 19 Texas Christian.

The women’s ninth-ranked 4×400-meter relay of junior Wiande Moore (Spring, Texas), sophomore Charlette Greggs (Miami Northwestern), senior Kitoya Carter (Miami Northwestern) and freshman Ginou Etienne (Miami Central) won its preliminary heat in a season-best time of 3:33.36 to move on to Sunday’s final.

Miami’s time was the second fastest of the preliminaries. Third-ranked LSU posted the fastest time of the qualifying round (3:33.22). Second ranked South Carolina also advanced to the final with a time of 3:33.45. Other teams advancing to the final include 11th-ranked Auburn, 12th-ranked Louisiana Tech, 13th-ranked Seton Hall, 16th-ranked Clemson, No. 18 Pittsburgh and No. 22 Texas Christian.