June 13, 2009

FSU Men Tie For Second Place While Women Take Fourth At NCAA's
With the men’s 4x400m relay squad setting this year’s second fastest time in the world, freshman phenom Jonathan Borlee running the nation’s best time in the 400m dash this season and junior Charles Clark earning the national championship in the 200m, the Florida State men’s track and field team left the John McDonnell Field with a smile on its face Saturday as the squad was named the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Runner-up, finishing in a three-way tie for second place with 46 points alongside Oregon and Florida. The Florida State women also took care of business with the program’s best finish since 1985. Sophomore Kimberly Williams dominated the triple jump Saturday while teammate senior Susan Kuijken blazed past the competition to earn national champion status in the 1500m to help the Seminoles win fourth-place with 40 points.

The men’s title came down to the very last event of the meet, the men’s 4x400m relay. After a late line-up change due to Brandon O’Connor’s nagging injury, Clark stepped in to run the third leg. With a quick first leg sprint by Kevin Williams and one of the fastest second leg’s FSU has ever witnessed in Kevin Borlee, Clark and Jonathan Borlee were set to finish the relay with a blistering time to blow away records. J. Borlee crossed the finish line first to push Florida State into the FSU, NCAA and World record books as the foursome’s 2:59.99 time is the world’s second-fastest time this season and the best-performance in Florida State program history.

Before the Borlee brothers crushed the opposition in the relay, both Seminoles hit the track to compete in the 400m dash. J. Borlee led the way again as he bettered his collegiate-best time with 44.78 to win the crown and earn his first NCAA Championship title. Brother K. Borlee followed on the warpath with a fourth-place finish time of 45.53, also a collegiate record for the Seminole. The Borlee’s finishes earned FSU a total of 15 points. 

Tech women earn best outdoor finish in team history
The Virginia Tech men’s and women’s track and field squads both earned top-20 finishes to cap off the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., on Saturday.

The Hokie women registered 12th place at the national meet with 18 points, marking the highest finish by the Virginia Tech women’s track and field squad in its history at the outdoor meet. The Tech men finished 16th at the meet, racking up 14.50 points. The finish was the squad’s best since tying for 12th in 2006. In all, seven Hokies earned All-America accolades at the meet.

Junior Kristi Castlin placed second in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking a 13.15. The runner-up finish marked Castlin’s best performance in the 100-meter hurdles at the national meet and fifth All-America honor in her career. Castlin’s previous best in the 100-meter hurdles at the national meet came in a ninth-place, All-America effort in 2007.

Ahoure Earns All-American Honors for the Fifth Time
The University of Miami's Murielle Ahoure ended her collegiate career with an All-American performance in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Arkansas' McDonnell Field.

Ahoure was joined by junior Kristy Whyte in the 200-meter dash final. Both women advanced through the first and semifinal rounds on Thursday to earn the right to race for the national title. Ahoure started in the ninth lane, while Whyte was in the blocks in lane one. Ahoure finished fourth with a time of 22.98 seconds, tying for the third-best mark of her season. Whyte placed ninth, crossing the line at 23.91 seconds.

Ahoure, a native of Bristow, Va. had a very busy championship week as she raced a total of seven times, once in the 4x100 relay and three times apiece in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Friday evening she picked up her first All-America honor, finishing seventh in the 100-meter dash.

Tar Heels Wrap Up Competition At NCAA Championships
The North Carolina track and field teams completed their 2009 seasons on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. as three Tar Heels were in action in the fourth and final day at John McDonnell Track. Vanneisha Ivy and Dominique Jackson each earned All-America honors en route to picking up five team points for a tie for 47th place. Austin Davis finished 12th in the triple jump for the men who finished with nine team points for a tie for 30th place. Texas A&M claimed both the women's and men's title.

Dominique Jackson opened the day for the Tar Heels with a 2:04.38 in the 800-meter run as the sophomore finished seventh overall. The All-America honor is the first for Jackson.

Junior Vanneisha Ivy made it 2-for-2 in All-America honors on the 2009 season as she finished sixth overall in the 100-meter hurdles. Ivy clocked a 13.35 in a headwind to earn three team points for the Tar Heels.

Six Cavaliers Finish With All-America Honors at NCAAs
All six Cavaliers that advanced to the finals of their respective events at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships earned All-America honors, including four on the final day of competition at McDonnell Field on the University of Arkansas’ campus. Seniors Yemi Ayeni, Billie-Jo Grant and Caitlin Kelly and freshman Morgane Gay each earned the distinction today, joining juniors Meghan Briggs and Stephanie Garcia - who competed yesterday - among the nation’s elite.

With Briggs, Garcia, Gay, Grant and Kelly honored, Virginia’s women set a new program-best for the amount of Cavaliers honored in a single season, as the previous record was four in 1983. Grant became the program’s first-ever four-time All-American in a single event, while Gay is Virginia’s first-ever female outdoor freshman All-American.

In addition, Grant and Kelly’s dual honors in the discus marks only the second-time that two Cavaliers have earned All-America honors in the same event at a championship, as Jill Haworth and Kim Kelly were both honored in the 1500m in 1983.

Bingham Finishes Second In 400-Meter Finals at NCAA Championships
Senior Michael Bingham closed out his career with a strong second place finish in the finals of the men's 400-meter dash Saturday afternoon at the 2009 NCAA Track & Field Championships at McDonnell Field on the campus of the University of Arkansas.

Bingham crossed the line in a time of 45.09 which was the second-best time of his career. It was also his second top-5 finish in the NCAA outdoor 400-meters as he took fifth in the finals as a junior in 2007.

The race started clean and Bingham was able to get into a good position amongst the group down the back stretch. Freshman Kevin Borlee from Florida State took the lead right off the gun and had the lead heading into the final turn. But he was on the outside in lane eight and may have gone out too quick as Bingham and Kevin's twin brother Jonathan swung by him to the head of the pack with 100-meters to go.

Jordan Concludes Competition at NCAA Championships in 11th-place
In his third-straight NCAA Track & Field Championships, junior Alphonso Jordan placed 11th in the triple jump on the final day of competition at John McDonnell Field Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.

Jordan hit a distance of 52'2" on his second attempt of the day, but it wasn't enough to put the Charlotte, N.C. native in the top-nine which would have awarded him three extra attempts.

Jordan misses All-America honors by just one spot. He does however post his best-ever finish at the outdoor championships, concluding an outstanding season in which he became the ACC and NCAA East Region Champion. Jordan also set the Tech outdoor record at 53'9.25" on the year, and earned All-America honors during the indoor season.

All-America! Lehman Takes Seventh In NCAA 1500
Duke senior Molly Lehman finished seventh Saturday in the finals of the 1500m at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, posting a two-second lifetime best to earn the first All-America honors of her career during the final day of competition at the University of Arkansas.

Lehman clocked 4:15.19 to finish in seventh and score two points. Her time was less than a second off the standing outdoor school record of 4:14.81 held by Olympian Shannon Rowbury. The mark also qualified Lehman for the senior race at the USATF National meet June 25-28 in Eugene, Ore. Today marked the second personal best broken by the senior this weekend, as she had already set a new PR of 4:17.20 during prelims on Thursday night.

On Friday night, Duke senior Patricia Loughlin clocked 10:15.56 in the finals of the 3000m steeplechase to take 10th overall, after entering the meet seeded 12th.