BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Coppin State's
Latifa Ali advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals in the 400m dash with a First-Round time of 52.85 at the NCAA East Preliminaries on Thursday afternoon at Indiana University's Haugh Track & Field Complex. Ali also clocked a personal wind-legal best of 23.48 in the 200m dash later in the day but just missed the qualifying mark.
A sophomore from Kumasi, Ghana, Ali took third in her heat of 400m dash to automatically qualify for the next round. Ali was edged by NC State's Jada Griffin and Delecia McDuffie of North Carolina A&T, but bested competitors from Ohio State, Miami (Fla.), Duke and South Carolina.
Ali finished fifth in her heat of the 200m dash, beating Leah Anderson of St. John's and Central Florida's Beyonce DeFreitas. Abby Steiner from Kentucky, who was in Ali's heat, had the top qualifying time of 22.19 which set a facility record. Ali's time was just .13 off the qualifying time.
The Quarterfinals of the 400m dash is set from Saturday, May 28 at 6:50 pm. Ali will most likely be on Coppin's 4x400m Relay which is set to compete that night at 8:45 pm.
