April 20, 2008
Results
GREENSBORO, N.C. - North Carolina Central University won four events and established two new meet records during the running of the 2008 International Friendship and Freedom Games at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C. on Friday and Saturday.
NCCU junior Eric Smalls (Raleigh, N.C.) broke the meet record in the discus throw with a winning toss of 47.37 meters (155 feet, 5 inches). Smalls also placed third in the shot put (15.33m/50-3.5).
The NCCU women's 4x200-meter relay squad, consisting of Ambria Alexander (Upper Marlboro, Md.), Caprice Church (Amityville, N.Y.), Lakisha Gantt (Washington, D.C.) and Saqenda Dallas (Philadelphia, Pa.), also set a new meet standard of 1:39.32, while beating Winston-Salem State University (1:40.78) to the finish line.
NCCU sophomore Christina Smith (Richmond, Va.) won the javelin throw with a distance of 36.31 meters (119-1), exactly one foot longer than second-place Justine Robertson of Elon.
The NCCU men's 4x800m relay team, consisting of Brandon Jones (Lynchburg, Va.), Rashaad Lee (Willingboro, N.J.), Michael Edwards (Charlotte, N.C.) and James Kukat (Nakuru, Kenya), out-ran its nearest competitor by more than six seconds to win the event with a time of 7:56.68.
The men's 4x400m squad finished third overall with a time of 3:12.90, but the Eagle foursome, consisting of Lee, Maurice Gailey (Pensacola, Fla.), Christopher Davis (Charlotte, N.C.) and Jones, posted the top collegiate time ahead of Charlotte (3:13.77), WSSU (3:21.53) and UNC Greensboro (3:30.21).
In the men's 1500m run, NCCU took the third through fifth spots as Kukat placed third (4:03.09), sophomore Gerald Jones (Raleigh, N.C.) fourth (4:09.49), and senior Robert Curington (Durham, N.C.) fifth (4:10.20).
Other top performances for NCCU were turned in by junior Latasha Jones (New Bern, N.C.) in the shot put (2nd, 12.97m/42-6.75), sophomore Mark Davis (Cape Coral, Fla.) in the high jump (2nd, 1.88m/6-2), and junior Will Scott (Charlotte, N.C.) in the long jump (7.16m/23-6.0).
Quietly, NCCU's Gailey had an outstanding meet. While not placing among the medalists, the senior sprinter posted some impressive times against many of the nation's top runners. Gailey was the second-fastest collegiate student-athlete in both the 100m and 200m dashes, finishing the 100m dash in 10.39 seconds and the 200m dash in 20.97 seconds.
