Doyley Reaches Regional Mark at Penn Relays
April 24, 2009
PHILADELPHIA – In the second day of the Penn Relays, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania, Deandra Doyley set a new personal-record and the women’s 4×400 relay team won the College final at Franklin Field, to lead the No. 15 University of Miami Hurricanes.
After an impressive showing in the long jump on Thursday, Doyley reached her career-best mark of 12.53m (41-01.50) in the triple jump. It is the first time this season that Doyley has reached a regional qualifying mark.
“Deandra has had two big weekends in a row, getting her PR in the long jump at ACC’s and then coming in third yesterday,” said Director of Track and Field Amy Deem. “Getting her PR today is another example of how well she is jumping and we are excited for her going into championship season.”
The Women’s 4×100 College final was won by the team of Tara Thomas, Kristy Whyte, Nene Kamate and Murielle Ahoure. The squad finished with the second-best time of the season at 44.83 seconds. The women qualified for the College final by posting a time of 46.19 seconds on Thursday.
“The 4×100 ran really well today, very solid,” added Deem. “They won convincingly and anytime you win a race at the Penn Relays it’s a big accomplishment.”
In the 4×200 relay, an event run exclusively at relay meets, Tameka and Takecia Jameson, Kamate and Thomas finished 11th out of 53 teams in the preliminary round. The quartet crossed the finish line with a time of 1:36.52.
With his second-best performance of the season, junior Mikese Morse leapt 7.59m (24-11.00) in the long jump, claiming the fifth spot. The mark was the third regional qualifying jump of the year for the Tampa native, with his best effort (7.62m, 25-00.00) coming at the season-opening Hurricane Invitational.
The men’s sprint medley relay team of Devon Hill, Cory Nelms, Patrick Blackie and Patrick O’Donnell raced to a finish of 3:27.68. The sprint medley relay, a race consisting of four legs of 400m, 200m, 200m and 800m, like the 4×200 is run almost exclusively at relay meets.
On Thursday, the women’s 4×400 relay team ran a 3:40.15 in the preliminary round. The team of Nene Kamate, Tameka Jameson, Murielle Ahoure and Kristy Whyte were the sixth fastest team out of 84 and are scheduled to run in the Women’s 4×400 Championship of America on Saturday at 5:10 p.m.
