AUSTIN, Texas – Coppin State's
Joseph Amoah qualified for the finals of both the 100m and 200m dash in record-fashion at the NCAA Track & Field Championships on Wednesday at Mike Myers Stadium.
A junior from Greater Accra, Ghana, Amoah took third in his heat of the 100m dash in 10.01 to qualify for the finals based on his time. His mark shattered his own school-record and also qualified him for the World Championships and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. His new personal-best is just three-hundredths of a second off the Ghanian record of 9.98 held by
Leonard Myers-Mills which was set on June 5, 1999.
Just under an hour later, Amoah clocked a 20.08 in the 200m dash to automatically qualify for Friday's final. Amoah's time not only broke his own school-record, but is also a Ghanian-record, breaking
Emmanuel Tuffour's mark of 20.15 which stood since September 24, 1995.
The 2019 USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year, Amoah also got the day started by helping the 4x100m Relay to a school-record 39.30. Joining him was
Keshaun Hodges,
Theodore Westcarr and
Joseph Manu as the quartet took fourth in their heat behind Florida State, Oregon and Iowa, and 14
th overall.
To close out the day, the 4x400m relay of
Abayie Opuni,
Malik John,
Anija Addison and Manu finished in 3:11.60.
Amoah will go for the National Championship in the 100m dash at 9:22 pm Eastern on Friday with the 200m dash final at 10:07 pm Eastern. All running events will be televised live on ESPN.
Amoah is one of five athletes to qualify for the finals of both events, joining Hakim Sani Brown of Florida, Houston's Mario Burke, Cravon Gillespie of Oregon and Texas Tech's Divine Oduduru.
