Saturday, June 29, 2013

Five HBCU tracksters make U.S. team



WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Black college products finished 1-3 in the men's 400 meter hurdles and three others earned top three finishes at the recently concluded USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.                        
    
All five HBCU products earned spots and will represent Team USA at the IAAF World Championships August 10 - August 18 in Moscow, Russia.
 
Reigning Olympic silver medalist Michael Tinsley out of Jackson State took home the title in the 400 meter hurdles and former Saint Augustine's hurdler Bershawn "Batman" Jackson finished third in Saturday afternoon's men's final.
    
Tinsley held off Kerron Clement to capture his first national outdoor title. Tinsley finished in 47.96 seconds, the best time in the world this year, nipping Clement who ran 48.06. Jackson was a close third in 48.09. Tinsley runs for adidas while Jackson is with Nike.
    
In the long jump, current Stillman junior sprinter and long jump specialist Jeffrey Henderson, who won NCAA Div. II national titles in the long jump and 100 meters two weeks prior, was narrowly edged for the top prize by George Kitchens, Jr.
    
Henderson leaped 8.22 meters (26 feet, 11 3/4 inches) in his next-to-last (fifth) jump Sunday afternoon to come up just short of Kitchens' winning jump of 8.23 meters (27 feet). This will be Henderson's second trip to the World Championships.
    
"This is my second time making the team, so I'm just preparing for Moscow," Henderson said in an interview after the meet. "The first time I was kind of scared. I was shocked that I made the team but I'm really prepared now."
 

 

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