PHILADELPHIA – The North Carolina Central University men's 4x100-meter relay squad placed second in the college finals of the prestigious Penn Relays on Saturday at Franklin Field, posting a season-best time of 40.26 seconds, while achieving the best event finish and time at the Penn Relays since 2008.
NCCU's foursome of
Jonathan Williams (Wake Forest, N.C.),
Deontae Williams (Tampa, Fla.),
Blake Hartsfield (Goldsboro, N.C.) and
Isaac Roberts (Greensboro, N.C.) recorded a time of 40.82 on Friday to qualify for the college finals.
In Saturday's finals, the runner-up Eagles were edged at the finish line by UWI Mona out of Kingston, Jamaica, with a winning time of 39.96, while NCCU beat Coppin State (40.57), UConn (40.62), Virginia Tech (40.77), Troy (40.80), Johnson C. Smith (40.91) and N.C. State (40.99).
The last time NCCU placed as high or ran as fast in the Penn Relays 4x100m relay was in 2008, when Mark Davis (Cape Coral, Fla.), Jeff Rankins (Bullock, N.C.), Christopher Davis (Charlotte, N.C.) and Maurice Gailey (Pensacola, Fla.) posted a time of 40.05 seconds to win the college finals.
In the women's 4x100m relay, the NCCU team of
Markiara Staten,
Bethany White,
Miaysha Bryant and
Deja Stevenson placed 31st with a time of 47.20.
Up next, the NCCU men's and women's teams will compete at the MEAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 4-6 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
