Feb. 7, 2010

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. - The North Carolina Central University men's and women's track and field teams concluded the two-day New Balance Collegiate Invitational with a stellar first place tie by freshman Ashley McCoy (Wilmington, N.C.) in Manhattan, N.Y. (Feb. 5-6).

In the 60-meter dash, McCoy tied for first with Analisa Austin (Bethune-Cookman) with a time of 7.67. McCoy beat out competition from Cincinnati, U.C.L.A and Georgetown, for her second first place finish this season.

In addition to McCoy's successful run on Friday, senior Saquenda Dallas earned an eighth place finish in the long jump, with a distance of 5.72 meters. On the final day of competition, the Lady Eagles 4x400-meter relay team of junior Tierra Blue (Raleigh, N.C.), senior Chavaria Williams (Miramar, Fla.), McCoy and junior Crystal Shepherd (Fayetteville, N.C.) placed third with a time of 3 minutes and 46 seconds, beating competition from North Carolina A&T, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

The Lady Eagles 4x200-meter relay team comprised of McCoy, Blue, freshman Jasmine Wanamaker (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Dallas placed sixth with a time of 1 minute and 39 seconds, head of Delaware, South Carolina and Florida International.

On the men's side, freshman Philip Barren (Raleigh, N.C.), freshman Demetrius David (Sanford, N.C.), senior Chris Hall (Georgetown, Guyana), junior Clifton Scarborough (Richmond, Va.) came together to compete in the 4x200 meter relay for a sixth place finish in 1 minute and 27 seconds.

The Eagles will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 13 at the UNC Invitational on the campus of North Carolina for the Eagles last indoor meet of the season.