BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Between two more records being broken and one individual provisionally qualifying for NCAA Championships, the Bethany College track and field teams had a quality day on the final day of the 2011 ECAC Championships, which were held at Moravian College.
Highlighting the meet was freshman Arkangelo James (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) in the men’s 800. He finished fifth overall, but more importantly, he broke the Bethany record and provisionally qualified for NCAA Championships by finishing in a time of 1:52.54.
Although James has provisionally qualified for NCAAs, he is on the bubble and will be waiting until the field is announced Sunday. After Friday’s results, his time is ranked 25th in the nation, although he has the third fastest time of any freshman in the nation and only five first-year runners have posted a provisional qualifying time.
The Bison as a team finished with six points at the meet and in addition to James’ finish, BC’s 4×100 relay also scored. The foursome of freshman Lamine Balde (Guinea/William L. Sayre), freshman Aarick Jones (Wadsworth, Ohio), sophomore Raymear Pinchom (Willingboro, N.J.) and freshman Greg Williams (Washington, D.C./Shippensburg) won their heat, which included PAC rivals Waynesburg and Washington & Jefferson, and finished seventh overall with a time of 43.21 seconds.
Williams also competed in the long jump on Friday, as his best measurement of 21-00.75 placed him 19th overall.
For the women, senior Desiree Finley (Nanticoke, Pa./Hanover Area) ran in a pair of events and set one school record. She reset her own mark in the 400 hurdles by finishing in a time of 1:05.62, which shaved .13 off her previous standard, as she placed 15th overall and was the top runner out of three PAC competitors.
Rounding out the events for Bethany was the women’s 4×100 relay, as the team of junior Kaitlyn Black (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley), freshman Hayley Acree (Middlebourne, W.Va./Tyler Consolidated), Finley and freshman Paige Prato (Gibsonia, Pa./Deer Lakes) posted a time of 51.04 seconds..
James will not be the only Bison waiting to find out if they will compete at the NCAA Championships, as freshman Ben Gregg (Eighty Four, Pa./Bentworth), who competed in the javelin Thursday at ECACs, will also be awaiting the final list for nationals. His best throw of 195 feet, four inches is currently 23rd in the nation, so he is also on the bubble for qualifying.. The NCAA Championships will be May 26-28 at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.
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