A total of five Bahamians will represent their respective schools at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Track and Field Championships, from June 11-14, in Eugene, Oregon.
The city of Eugene, which is known as Track Town, USA, just hosted some of the world's best athletes at the Prefontaine Classic this past weekend, and now, the best collegiate athletes in the United States, will head there for the NCAA Championships.
Four of the five Bahamians who qualified for the NCAA finals this past weekend, came out of the west region. Competing at the NCAA West Preliminaries on their home field at the University of Arkansas, Raymond Higgs and Tamara Myers had huge performances in the jumps to qualify in two events each.
Higgs fed off the Razorbacks crowd at the John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to post the top qualifying distance in the men's long jump. The Arkansas senior had a best jump of 7.77 meters (m) - 25' 6" - to easily qualify last Thursday. He came back two days later and qualified third in the men's triple jump, with a best jump of 15.92m (52' 2-3/4").
Myers qualified for the NCAA finals in the same two events. The Arkansas junior had the third-best qualifying leap in the women's long jump, a personal best jump of 6.31m (20' 8-1/2"). In the triple jump, she qualified fourth, with a leap of 13.01m (42' 8-1/4").
In the short sprints, Shavez Hart and Tynia Gaither qualified in two events each.
Hart, a junior at Texas A&M University, ran 10.27 seconds in both the preliminary and semi-final round of the men's 100m. He ran 20.60 seconds in the qualifying round of the men's 200m, and 20.43 seconds in the semis, to qualify for Eugene with the third fastest time coming out of the west. His time in the 100m was good enough for second in his semi-final heat and 11th overall, but he was an automatic qualifier as the top three in each heat plus the next three fastest times qualified.
Hart will also run as a member of Texas A&M's 4x100m relay team, which posted the top qualifying time of 38.84 seconds.
Gaither, a junior at the University of Southern California (USC), continues to impress every time she hits the track. She didn't have one of her better outings in the 100m, but was superb in the 200m, and ended up qualifying for Eugene in both events.
Gaither ran 11.58 seconds in the opening round of the women's 100m, and 11.63 seconds in the semis, but still qualified for the NCAA Finals as she was third in her semi-final heat and 15th overall. The top three in each heat and the next three fastest times qualified for the NCAA Finals. In the 200m, Gaither ran a personal best time of 22.88 seconds in the semis, after coming out of the opening round, in 23.16 seconds. Her stunning time in the semis was the fifth fastest.
Gaither will also run on Southern Cal's sprint relay team, as they qualified third overall, in 43.55 seconds.
Three other Bahamians competed in the west preliminaries this past weekend, but all three failed to qualify.
Trevorvano Mackey, a junior at Texas Tech, ran 21.07 seconds in the semis of the men's 200m after qualifying out of the opening round, in 20.97 seconds. He finished 19th overall.
Te'Shon Adderly, a senior at Minnesota, ran 2:07.34 in the semi-finals of the women's 800m after qualifying out of the opening round in 2:07.72. She finished 14th overall.
Kenya Culmer, a senior at Southern Illinois, failed to qualify in the women's high jump. She posted a best leap of 1.67m (5' 5-3/4"), which was tied for 31st overall.
Just one Bahamian qualified for the NCAA Finals out of the east region.
Teray Smith, a freshman at Auburn, ran 20.68 seconds, in the semi-finals of the men's 200m to qualify for Eugene with the eighth fastest time. He ran 20.98 seconds in the opening round heat.
The other Bahamians at the east preliminaries weren't so fortunate.
V'Alonee Robinson, a senior at Auburn, could only muster a time of 11.68 seconds in the semi-finals of the women's 100m. That time was only good enough for 22nd overall. Robinson ran 11.75 seconds in the opening round heats. Bahamian Tayla Carter, a sophomore at Western Carolina University, also took part in the women's 100m. She was 38th overall, in 11.94 seconds. Carter also ran in the 200m, and was 38th overall in that event, with a time of 24.10 seconds.
In the men's 400m, Florida State senior Alonzo Russell qualified out of the opening round but failed to get out of the semis. He posted times of 46.65 and 46.37 seconds respectively, finishing 14th overall in the semis. Russell will get a chance to run as a part of Florida State's 4x400m relay team though. The Seminoles qualified eighth overall, in 3:04.95.
Earl Rahming, a senior at Western Carolina, also ran in the men's 400m, but failed to get out of the opening round. He finished 38th overall, in 47.40 seconds. Alfred Higgs, a senior at South Florida, took part in the men's 100m, and was 43rd overall, in 11.49 seconds.

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