Four for NCAA Champs in California

by Michael Bascombe

Neisha Bernard-Thomas running during the 2003 Penn Relays.

Four Grenadian athletes will feature in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, California from June 11-14.

Hazel-Ann Regis and Neisha Bernard-Thomas of Louisiana State University, Sean Lambert of University of Tennessee and Randy Lewis of Wichita State University were automatic qualifiers at last weekend’s NCAA Regional Championships.

For the women, Regis, the NCAA leader will be making the trip to nationals as she placed second (52.04) in the 400m at the Mideast Regional in Columbus, Ohio.

In the 800-metres, Bernard-Thomas will be heading back to the national meet after placing fourth in the finals with her second-best run of the season (2:03.95).

However, Kishara George of Middle Tennessee State University missed out on a place in the final as she was seventh (1:02.32) in the 400-metre hurdles.

In the East Regionals, Antonia Cadore clocked 12.02s and 24.35s in the 100 and 200 metres respectively. Her timings didn’t guarantee qualification for the nationals.

For the men, Lambert is among six athletes from Tennessee qualifying for the NCAA final.

“One way or another the idea was to get your guys to nationals, and I think we got everybody in we could,” Tennessee coach Bill Webb said. “In terms of adding somebody, the surprise of the day was Sean Lambert getting third in the 100m. He ran a great competitive race when it counted.

Perhaps the most gutsy effort of the meet belonged to Lambert in the 100m dash. After a hit and miss season, Lambert found his form when it counted with an overachieving third-place performance in 10.24w with a gale at his back. Lambert entered the race with the eighth-fastest time in the region.

“I got off to a slower start than usual,” Lambert said. “This time I felt I knew what I was doing. Since I didn’t have a good meet at SECs, I was very focused. I knew it was do or die time. I knew I had to run to get in. I had a good conversation with my coach (Vince Anderson) which allowed me to execute better.

And Randy Lewis joined two other athletes from Wichita State to gain automatic qualification from the Midwest Regionals in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Lewis won the triple jump with a distance of 16.01m, earning him an automatic berth to the national meet. Lewis narrowly missed qualifying for nationals in the long jump, placing sixth at 7.58m and missing fifth place by two feet.

Relay member Bruce Swan was re-injured during the 100-metre preliminary.

Automatic NCAA Championship Qualifiers

Women
400 Meters – Hazel-Ann Regis ( 2^nd 52.04)
800 Meters – Neisha Bernard-Thomas ( 4^th 2:03.95)
4x400 - Davy, Hall, Thomas, Regis ( 1^st 3:36.18)

Men
100 Meters – Sean Lambert ( 3^rd 10.24w 5.2)
4x100 – Greer, Boulware, Lambert, Bell Jr. ( 3^rd 40.37)
Triple Jump – Randy Lewis ( 1^st 16.01m)