Dukes Claim Three Golds, Finish Third at CAA Championships

Friday, May 1

Williamsburg, Va.

All Day

James Madison University

Colonial Athletic Association

Dukes Claim Three Golds, Finish Third at CAA Championships

5/2/2015 9:11:00 PM | Track & Field

Final Results

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – James Madison thrived in sprint events with golds in the 100 dash, 100 hurdles and 4x100 relays en route to a third-place finish at the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association Track and Field Championships on Saturday at William and Mary's Zable Stadium.

"The ladies competed very hard this weekend," Head Coach Cheree Hicks said. "They showed a lot of heart and determination. It was all we could ask as a coaching staff to see that from our group. Each point that we earned was a hard-fought point. We had a lot of personal bests and that's why we come to conference, to do our absolute best. That's what they did this weekend."

Elon surged late to capture the team title with 150 points. Host W&M held the lead for much of the event before finishing second with 134.5 points. JMU climbed to within 2.5 points late in the meet before finishing third at 122. The rest of the field included Delaware (104.5), Northeastern (98), UNCW (98), College of Charleston (58) and Towson (52).

JMU started the day in style with its first ever gold in the 4x100-meter relay. The team of freshman Aereale Scott, sophomore De'Ana Forbes, sophomore Annie Johnson and sophomore Kennedy King earned 10 points and achieved the third-best time in JMU history at 46.23 seconds.

Shortly after, Forbes picked up JMU's first gold in the 100-meter hurdles since 1992. Her time of 13.83 seconds was a personal record and the second-best time in JMU history. Hicks said, "Oh my goodness, what a great race! De'Ana had strong determination and attacked every hurdle. You could tell by her time that she dominated the field."

Senior Jasmine Waddell added four points with a fifth-place finish in 14.43 seconds and Scott was right behind in sixth in 14.64 seconds.

The other Madison gold came from Johnson in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.93 seconds. Her time was a PR and fifth-best in JMU history. Forbes added three points with a sixth-place finish in 12.078 seconds.

"Annie fought it out all the way to the end," Hicks said. "She kept coming and kept coming and got the lead just as they crossed the line. It showed once again how much heart and determination they had today, not just as individuals but as an entire team."

Freshman Tyrah Burrow picked up a silver medal in the 400-meter dash with a personal-best time of 55.43 seconds, good for sixth in JMU history while also qualifying for the first time for the ECAC Championships. Senior Destiny Simmons added a fifth-place finish in 57.73 seconds.

King picked up her third medal of the meet with one of two bronze performances for JMU. She finished third in the 200-meter dash in 24.45 seconds. Johnson was fifth in 24.61 seconds to add four points, and Simmons added a point with an eighth-place showing in 25.14 seconds.

In the field, sophomore Morgan Crewe captured JMU's final bronze medal in the high jump with her best leap of the season, clearing 1.73 meters. Like Burrow, she also qualified for ECAC.

Sophomore Carol Strock smashed her personal record in the 1500-meter run, finishing fourth in 4:28.58 to qualify for ECAC with the 10^th-best time in school history. Senior Kristen Landry was sixth in a PR of 4:32.12, and freshman Erica Gray also hit a PR with a time of 4:33.03 to place seventh.

Senior Kelsey Langton was fourth in the 800-meter run in 2:12.76 to record a PR and score five points. Waddell also finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:02.54.

JMU picked up additional field points in the triple jump with sophomore Nia Jones placing fifth with a personal-best leap of 11.68 meters. Sophomore Ebony Owusu-Sampah was eighth at 11.49 meters.

The 4x400-meter relay scored the final points of the meet for JMU with a fifth-place finish. The team of sophomore Abby Duncan, freshman Charlie Bell, Johnson and Burrow finished in 3:50.65.

Qualifiers will now move on to the ECAC Championships to be held May 15-17 in Princeton, N.J.