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WCU’s Davis places 25th in NCAA championship meet
Finishing fifth overall in her heat Thursday evening, Western Carolina junior Asia Davis posted a 25th-place finish in the nation in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Despite not advancing to Friday’s semifinal round, Davis concluded a strong track and field season amidst a great year for Catamount athletics.
Running in the fifth heat of the event, Davis ran 1:01.15, quicker than three other competitors in the overall competition. Her time was a mere 1.82 seconds off the final advancing time of 59.33 as the top two from each heat and the next best six times moved into Friday’s semis. Josanne Lucas, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) runner-up from Auburn, won the final heat with the third-best time in the preliminary round. She was joined by Louisville’s Heather Trimiew as the two from Davis’ heat to advance.
Davis eclipsed the 60-second barrier five times this season and also qualified for the NCAA East Regional meet a combined five times, which includes the automatic berth that comes with winning the Southern Conference championship in the event. At the regional, Davis became just one of eight Catamounts all-time to earn a berth to the NCAA’s National Outdoor Championship, accomplishing the feat for the first-time since 2002.
Amidst her five, under-60 times, Davis broke her own WCU school record in the 400-meter hurdle event at the East Regional with a time of 58.05. This season, the junior from Charlotte,also helped set school benchmarks in the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays. In the 400-meter relay, Davis was joined by sophomore sprinters Tangelia Johnson and Raquel Ramseur, as well as senior Cassie Gentry in turning a quick lap of 45.72 at the Western Invitational back on April 1 to set both the school and track record. In the 1,600-meter relay, Davis was again joined by Johnson and Ramseur, as well as freshman Aneesha Lane to pass the baton in 3:39.36, setting the school record at the East Regional.
Including the three aforementioned records, all told this outdoor track and field season a combined eight school records were rewritten by Catamount student-athletes. Both Johnson raised the bar in both the 100- and 200-meter dash events, running 11.63 and 24.11, respectively, in addition to her contributions on the relay squads.
On the men’s side, sophomore Zeb Johnson set a facility and school record at the Western Invitational in the 200-meter dash, running 20.88. He was also a part of setting new benchmarks in the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays. Joined by senior Milton Bolton, sophomore Mike Malone, and freshman Kevin Johnson, the four turned the hot lap of 40.23 to set the WCU record at the Georgia Tech Invitational in mid-May. Another freshman, Manteo Mitchell, joined the fray at the 1,600-meter distance, replacing his classmate, Kevin Johnson, to help the four Cats run 3:08.34 – also at the Georgia Tech Invitational – to establish the new mark.
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