PHILADELPHIA – In front of a live national television audience on NBC Sports Network, the North Carolina Central University men's 4x100-meter relay team achieved the school's fastest time in 16 years to place fourth in the Championship of America Invitational finals during the 124th running of the prestigious Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Saturday.
 
The 4x100m relay unit of Isaac Roberts, Deontae Williams, Blake Hartsfield and Gordon Lewis posted a time of 39.94 seconds, NCCU's first sub-40 time since 2002, when Jamie Richardson, Detric Branch, Steven Enoch and Jason Smoots registered a time of 39.88 to win the NCAA Division-II national championship.
 
The 4x100m Eagles qualified for the Championship of America Invitational finals out of 65 competing teams with a time of 40.80 on Friday.
 
Saturday's national broadcast also featured the NCCU men's and women's 4x200m relay teams in action during the Championship of America Invitational finals.
 
The women's 4x200m relay, consisting of Miaysha Bryant, Tyresha Alexander, Akia Morris and Bethany White, posted NCCU's best time since 2010 with a 1:36.86 to finish eighth in the program's first trip to the Penn Relays finals of this event.
 
In the men's 4x200m relay finals, NCCU's Roberts, Lewis, Malik Miles and Williams tallied a time of 1:25.04, but the team was disqualified. In the preliminaries, the Eagles recorded the school's fastest time at the Penn Relays in the program's Division-I era with a 1:25.75.
 
On Thursday, the NCCU 4x100m foursome of Morris, White, Alexander and Erin Johnson registered a blistering time of 45.79 in the preliminary race to qualify for the college finals on Friday. That time is the second-fastest mark by NCCU at the Penn Relays in the school's Division-I era.
 
In Friday's 4x100m college finals, the NCCU women finished in sixth place with a time of 46.41 seconds. In only the third time NCCU has qualified for the finals of the women's 4x100m relay at the Penn Relays, this year's group achieved the second-highest finish and the best finish since 2011 when Joann Blakney, Ashley McCoy, Crystal Shepherd and La'Creesha Gore placed fifth in a time of 45.56 seconds.
 
For complete results, visit ThePennRelays.com.
 
Up next for NCCU is the MEAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 3-5 in Greensboro, North Carolina.