Gray Leads Lady Koala Track to Title at FMU Invite
FLORENCE, S.C. - The Columbia College women's track and field team competed at the Div. II Francis Marion Invitational on Friday in Florence and came away with 7 titles during the meet to take 1st place with 182 points, 50 points ahead of runner-up FMU and 70 points ahead of 3rd place CIU.
Freshman sprinter Dara Gray won two events as she won the 100 meter dash in 12.03 seconds for her personal best and 25th best NAIA time while sophomore teammate Jayla Graham finished 2nd at 12.5 seconds. Gray then won the 200 meters in 24.7 seconds for her personal best time and #22 NAIA time while Graham came in 3rd in 25.6 seconds for her best time.
Sophomore Faith Eugene then placed 5th in the 200 in 25.9 seconds for her best time while finishing 7th in the 100 in 12.8 seconds. Junior Kwamecia Marks also finished 4th in the 100 in 12.8 seconds while finishing 9th in the 200 in 26.4 seconds. Sophomore Tylashia Alston then finished 6th in the 200 meters in 26 seconds for her personal best while she was 10th in the 100 in 13 seconds.
The women's 4x100 relay team also finished first in a time of 48.28 seconds topping runner-up CIU by five seconds and consisted of F. Eugene, D. Gray, T. Alston, and J. Graham.
Freshman Sharetta Jones placed 2nd in the 400 meters in one minute flat while also finishing 7th in the 200 in 26.1 seconds. F. Eugene also finished third in the 400 in 1:02.
In the Distance races, senior Juliana Gonzalez led the way winning the 1500 meters in 5 minutes flat while sophomore Avarose Buccino came in 2nd in 5:05 as each lady posted personal-best times. In the 400M Hurdles, freshman Annsley Howle was 2nd in 1:14 for her personal best time while Buccino then finished 4th of 12 in the 800M in 2:32 with Gonzalez in 8th in 2:45. Finally, in the 5K, freshman Alissa McCann placed 2nd in 21:24.
The 4x400 meter relay team then placed 2nd in 4:37 on Friday afternoon and consisted of distance runners, A. Buccino, J. Gonzalez, A. Howle, and A. McCann.
In the field events, the Koalas were led by junior Makayla Blango placing 1st in the Triple Jump with a mark of 11.3 meters (37 ft) for the #24 best NAIA mark. J. Graham then won the Long Jump with a mark of 5.6 meters (18 ft) for a personal best jump to rank #27 in the nation while Blango then came in third in the LJ with a mark of 5.32 meters (17.5 ft).
In the throwing events, CC was led by Doreshia McAllister in the Hammer Throw as she threw a mark of 46.9 meters (153 ft) to place 1st and win the event and 10 points for the Koalas while junior Jada Robinson set her personal best throw of 38.4 meters in the Hammer to place 4th. Senior Hali Doctor also set a personal best throw of 35.9 meters in the Hammer to place 8th.
In the Javelin Throw, CC saw freshman Aja Rushing finish 9th of 14 at 18.5 meters (60 ft) while the Shot Put saw junior Azia Holmes place 5th at 10.28 meters (33.5 ft) and fellow junior Qu'Sondra Wideman come in 8th in 10 meters. Wideman then led the Koalas in the Discus finishing 4th at 37 meters (121 ft) while freshman Myanna Alston was 8th at 30.37 meters and Holmes 10th in 28 meters.
The Lady Koalas will next compete in the Winthrop Invite this Friday and Saturday in Rock Hill, SC beginning at 11 AM Friday with the field events and 2:00 pm for the track events.