Although the Lady Rattlers track and field team fell short in some events in Gainesville, it made up for that in other areas.
Steered by resilient performances, Florida A&M produced several top-20 finishes and personal-best times last weekend during the 68th Annual Pepsi Florida Relays at James G. Pressley Stadium.
“I really have a well-rounded team,” said head coach Darlene Moore. “We performed all around stellar performances in field and running events.”
Ariel Allen dashed to 10th place in the 800m run with a personal-best time of 2:09.66, meeting her goal and qualifying for the NCAA Southern Regional Championship in the process.
“I feel really good about my performance,” said Allen, a sophomore from Jacksonville. “I’ve been trying to make 2:09 all season, and I finally made it. I hope it continues to go down.”
The 4 x 400m relay team – Allen, Jeanette Hulse, Dynasty Jones and Nakia Linson – recorded a personal-best time of 3:44.63 during its finish in 28th place. During the Morehouse Relays on March 17, the relay team finished with a time of 3.47.
“I was pleased with their performance, as their time continued to go down,” said Moore. “I was pleasantly surprised.”
Linson, who also soared to 10th place in the long jump with a leap of 5.70m, said FAMU is in position to succeed at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship on May 3.
“It’s looking really positive in the down part of the season as we’re getting ready for MEAC,” said Allen.
Sasha Lebert, a freshman from Fort Lauderdale, placed 20th in shot put with a toss good for 13.15m.
“I did great,” said Lebert. “I’ve been focusing on my distance. I got my mojo back.”
Chandelic Jackson, a mid-distance runner from Dallas, Ga., finished in 25th place during the 800m run (2:13.58). Kinnesha Jones leapt to 16th place in the triple jump with a distance of 11.93m.
Distance runner Clarricia Golden finished in 28th place in the 5000m run with a time of 19:12.19, while Ciera Williams finished 31st (20:03.91).
In the 400m hurdles, Brittany Jones placed 38th (1:01.55), while Wendy Deshommes followed in 51st place (1:04.15).
Moore said she and the Lady Rattlers will use this performance as a way to prepare for the Seminole Invitational at
Florida State on Saturday.