The Aurora University Men's and Women's Track and Field representatives at the 2015 NCAA Division III Championships had a strong showing across the board on Day One in Canton, New York at St. Lawrence University.
Five individual Spartans and two women's relay teams competed on the day with three of the individuals,
Kalmon Stokes,
Emily Paull and
Deterrica Simpkins and the 4x100 relay team (Simpkins,
Crystal Abernathy,
Lisa Rodriguez and
Loretta Johnson) advanced from the preliminary rounds and will compete for individual All-American and NCAA Championship honors.
Women's Track and Field
4x100 meter relay
The AU relay team of Simpkins, Abernathy, Rodriguez and Johnson finished fifth in the preliminary round with an AU and Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference record time of 46.87. They will run in the 4x100 meter relay NCAA Finals on Saturday, May 23 at 12:10 pm (Aurora time) with a chance for a relay NCAA Championship and All-American honors.
200 meter dash
Simpkins finished first in her heat with a time of 24.59 and Johnson finished sixth in her heat with a time of 25.22. Simpkins will run in the 200 meter dash NCAA Finals on Saturday, May 23 at 2:45 pm (Aurora time) with a chance for an individual NCAA Championship and All-American honors. Johnson finished 15th with her time.
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3,000 meter steeplechase
Paull finished fourth in her heat and eighth overall with a time of 10:54.91. She will run in the 3,000 meter steeplechase NCAA Finals on Saturday, May 23 at 11:30 am (Aurora time) with a chance for an individual NCAA Championship and All-American honors.
4x400 meter relay
The AU relay team of
Liz Canaday, Simpkins, Paull and Johnson finished 15th in the preliminary round with a time of 3:52.76.
Next action for the Spartan women at the 2015 NCAA Division III Championships comes on Friday, May 22, 2015. Spartans Johnson (400 meter dash) will run at 4:45 p.m. and Simpkins (100 meter dash) will run at 5:15 p.m. Both times are Aurora time.
Men's Track and Field
400 meter hurdles
Stokes finished second in his heat with an AU and Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference record time of 52.15. He will run in the 400 meter hurdle NCAA Finals on Saturday, May 23 at 2:30 pm (Aurora time) with a chance for an individual NCAA Championship and All-American honors.
Next action for the Spartan men at the 2015 NCAA Division III Championships comes on
Friday, May 22, 2015. Spartan
Bobby Cooks (110 meter hurdles) will run at 4:30 p.m. and Stokes (400 meter dash) will run at 5:00 p.m. Both times are Aurora time.
