PUEBLO, Colo. -- The Lincoln Blue Tigers opened the Division II outdoor track and field championships Thursday by competing in six events and advanced four individuals and a relay team to the finals at Colorado State Pueblo University’s ThunderBowl Stadium.
The Blue Tigers opened the championships with their women’s 4x100-meter relay team of Shantae George, Shenese Walker, Hughasia Fyffe and Jovanna Gustave. The team was able to move on to the finals, scheduled for 6:10 p.m. Saturday, with a third-place qualifying time of 44.51 seconds.
Walker also qualified for finals as an individual, as she ran the women’s 100-meter dash preliminaries in 11.46 seconds to grab the third qualifying spot. Gustave was unable to move on in the 100, finishing 22nd with a time of 11.99.
The final for the women’s 100 is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. Saturday.
Lincoln picked up the top qualifying spots for both the men’s and women’s 400-meter hurdles.
Maria Diamond was the lone Blue Tiger to compete in the women’s 400 hurdles prelims, winning her heat and qualifying first in 58.49.
On the men’s side, Troy Whyte ran the 400 hurdles in 49.85 seconds to qualify first, Shanthamoi Brown was unable to qualify and finished 12th in 52.00 and Kewani Campbell was close behind in 13th with a time of 52.38.
The final for the women’s 400 hurdles are set for 8:20 p.m. Saturday, with the men’s 400 hurdles final to follow at 8:30 p.m.
Rounding out the qualifiers for the Blue Tigers was Reuben Nichols in the men’s 400. Nichols grabbed the eighth out of nine qualifying spots with his time of 46.44.
The men’s 400 final is scheduled for 7:25 p.m. Saturday.
Lincoln’s men’s 4x100 relay team of Dimitri Beckford, Whyte, Shemar Fletcher and Nichols was unable to qualify for the final, finishing 12th in 40.11.
The Blue Tigers will return to action today for Day 2 of the outdoor championships.
Nichols will open up the day at 6:45 p.m. in the men’s 200, Shanette Allison and Sophia Myers will compete in the women’s 100 hurdles at 7:35 p.m., Whyte and Rashane Bartlett will follow in the men’s 100 hurdles at 7:50 p.m., Lincoln’s women’s 4x400 relay team of Diamond, Chrissani May, George and Denita Jackson will be next at 8:50 p.m. and the Blue Tigers’ men’s 4x400 relay team of Whyte, Brown, Nichols and Leondre Francis will run in the final event of the day at 9:10 p.m.