Doyley and Finch Impressive at Penn Relays
April 23, 2009
PHILADELPHIA – The 15th-ranked women’s track and field team opened up the prestigious Penn Relays with fine performances in the long jump and the relays at Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.
With her second-best mark of the season, junior Deandra Doyley placed third in the College Women’s Long Jump Championship, leaping 6.17m (20-03.00). The three-time all-ACC performer will be participating in the Women’s Triple Jump College Final Friday at 11 a.m.
Also with the second-best mark of her season, freshman Brittni Finch leapt 6.07m (19-11.00) in the College Women’s Long Jump College division. The feat was good for a second-place finish among the 24 competitors.
The 4×100 relay team of Tara Thomas, Kristy Whyte, Nene Kamate and Murielle Ahoure advanced to the College Women’s 4×100 College Final on Friday at 1:15 p.m. with their performance in the preliminary heats. Of 84 schools, the Hurricanes were the 11th to finish, with a time of 46.19 seconds.
A time of 3:40.15 is all the 4×400 relay team needed to advance to Women’s 4×400 Championship of America this Saturday at 5:10 p.m. The team of Kamate, Tameka Jameson, Ahoure and Whyte were the sixth fastest team out of 84, allowing them to advance to the final.
In the 4×200 relay, an event that is exclusively run at relay meets, Tameka and Takecia Jameson, will be joined by Kamate and Thomas on Friday at 2:10 p.m.
Ahoure, who won both the 100 and 200-meter ACC titles and ranks No. 13 and No. 3 in each event, respectively will take part in the 100-meter dash Friday at 3:35 p.m.
The men’s team will see their first action at 9 a.m. on Friday as Cory Nelms will compete in the 400-meter hurdles, an event where he placed second in the ACC Championships with a season-best and regional qualifying time of 51.96 seconds.
The 400-meter hurdles are only the first of four events that the busy junior will be a part of on Friday. Nelms is also scheduled for the 110-meter hurdles at 3:30 p.m., the 4×400 relay at 4:35 p.m. and the sprint medley relay at 6:45 p.m.
Joining Nelms in the 4×400 relay will be Patrick Blackie, Brandon Harris, and Davon Hill. The men’s best effort in the event so far this season was at the conference championships, where they registered a sixth-place time of 3:12.13.
The sprint medley relay, a race consisting of four legs of 400m, 200m, 200m and 800m, will be run Friday at 6:45 p.m. Along with Nelms will again be Harris and Hill as well as Patrick O’Donnell who will be running the 800-meter leg.
Junior Mikese Morse, who currently holds the school indoor long jump record (7.90m, 25-11.00) and was a fourth place finisher at the ACC Championships will compete in the event Friday at 2 p.m.
The Penn Relays is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious track and field relay event. Beginning in 1922 with the renovation of Franklin Field, the Penn Relays has hosted high schools and college track and field programs as well as amateur and professional athletes. This year there are over 1,200 schools that will be attending in front of a three-day audience that is expected to be over 100,000 strong.
In addition to all of the relays, the 110-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash will be run as preliminary heats with the top-performers moving on to the finals. Click here for live results and visit hurricanesports.com each day for updated information.
