BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Coppin State's
Joseph Manu,
Latifa Ali and the women's 4x400m Relay have qualified to compete in the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds, it was announced by the NCAA on Thursday afternoon. The East Prelims will be held from May 25-28 at Indiana University's Haugh Track & Field Complex.
Athletes who ranked among the top 48 in their respective event earned a berth into the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. In addition, the best 24 relays times advance to the NCAA Preliminaries. Athletes with the top 12 times/marks and the best 12 relay teams at both the East and West Preliminary Rounds sites will qualify for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, held on June 8-11 at historic Hayward Field.
Manu will compete in both the 100m and 200m dash while Ali is slated to run in both the 200m and 400m dash.
A senior from Accra, Ghana, Manu clocked times of 10.19 and 20.42 in the 100m and 200m dash, respectively to qualify for the Preliminaries. Manu is seeded 32
nd in the 100m dash and 18
th in the 200m dash. Manu is coming off MEAC titles in both events and is the second-fastest runner in CSU history in both events.
Ali will be making her first appearance at the NCAA East Preliminaries after her times of 23.55 in the 200m and 52.82 in the 400m cracked the Top 48. A sophomore from Kumasi, Ghana, Ali is ranked 47
th in the 200m and 21
st in the 400m dash after winning the MEAC title in the 400m last week.
The women's 4x400m Relay, made up of Ali,
Kimani Alphonse,
Shenelle Tomlinson and
Salomay Agyei qualified with a school-record time of 3:35.70, set at Penn Relays in late April. Coppin is seeded 14
th of the 24 relays that will compete at the East Preliminaries.
Men's events will be run on Wednesday, May 25 and Friday, May 27 with Manu running the 100m dash at 7 pm and the 200m dash at 8:45 pm on Wednesday. Should Manu advance to Friday's Quarterfinals, he will run the 100m dash at 6:35 pm, followed by the 200m dash at 7 pm.
Women's races will be held on Thursday, May 26 and Saturday, May 28 with Ali competing in the 400m dash at 7:25 pm and the 200m dash at 8:45 pm on Thursday. Quarterfinals for those events will be held at 6:50 pm and 7:50 pm, respectively, on Saturday. The 4x400m Relay will go off at 8:45 pm on Saturday.
