BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Florida State men’s track and field team put together some phenomenal performances on their final day of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary in Bloomington, Ind. Friday.
A total of eight Noles and two relay teams will be headed to Eugene, Ore. for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
“I was really pleased with our performances today,” said Head Coach Bob Braman. “The 4x100m relay got us off to a great start with a really good time on a wet track on a cold night, and we had some guys gut it out to punch their ticket to nationals.. We have set ourselves up really well to compete for a title in Eugene.”
The 4x100m relay started the night off with a bang as Taylor Banks, Amir Willis, Don’dre Swint and Jo’Vaughn Martin combined to run 38.51 on a cold and wet night. That time is No. 2 in the NCAA this season, was a meet record and also put the group No. 2 of FSU’s all-time list.
Trey Cunningham put together one of the most special performances in 110m hurdle history. Cunningham reclaimed the fastest time in the world with a new personal best 13.07 into 1.5m/s headwind. According to the USTFCCCA, only five athletes in world history have run the 110m hurdles faster into a headwind, and Cunningham’s time was the third-fastest in world history into a headwind of 1.5m/s or stronger. Cunningham now has the fifth-fastest time in NCAA history.
In the triple jump, Jeremiah Davis and Jacore Irving solidified their spots at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Davis jumped 15.99m while Irving posted a season-best mark of 15.84m.
In the 100m dash, Banks and Martin ran 10.17 and 10.18, respectively to move on to the semifinals in Eugene in the event.
The Noles ended the night with the 5000m run and the 4x400m relay and will have representatives at Hayward Field in both events. Adriaan Wildschutt (13:39.33) finished fifth overall, and Ahmed Muhumed (13:44.42) finished 12th to become the first pair in school history to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5000m run.
In the 4x400m relay, Sean Watkins Jr., Willis, James Rivera and DaeQwan Butler combined to run 3:05.33 to finish third in their heat and secure and automatic spot into the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The women will hope to continue the momentum tomorrow as they will get under way at 1 p.m. with the discus and at 5 p.m. with the 4x100m relay.
