Five HBCU products headed to Track and Field World
Championships
June 27, 2005
Five athletes with HBCU connections have earned spots on the USA Team for
the 2005 World Outdoor Track and Field Championships August 6-14 in Helsinki,
Finland.
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Bershawn Jackson |
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James Carter |
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Kevin Hicks |
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Keith Moffatt |
St. Augustine's Bershawn Jackson, Hampton's
James Carter, Florida A&M's
Kevin Hicks, Morehouse's Keith Moffatt and Southern's
Brian Johnson each finished in the top three in their respective events at
the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships June 23-26 in Carson, CA.
Jackson and Carter finished second and third in the 400 meter hurdles finals.
Hicks finished third in the 800 meter run and Moffatt captured third place
in the high jump.
Jackson, the reigning USA Indoor 400m champion, finished second in the 400m
hurdles with a time of 47.80 just behind Kerron Clement (47.24) and ahead of
Carter (48.03). All three are sponsored by Nike.
Carter, a two-time Olympian, was the US Olympic Trials champion last year
and US Outdoor and World Cup champion in 2002.
Hick's achievement makes him the first Florida A&M track star to qualify
for the World Championships in 15 years. He crossed the finish line at 1:46.99
to grab third place behind Khadevis Robinson (1:45.27) and David Krummenacker
(1:46.80) in Sunday's final.
Moffatt's position on Team USA helps assuage the disappointment of not making
the US Olympic Team last year. He finished fourth at the Olympic Trials and
just missed making the team.
This year, the sophomore leaper was in the thick of the battle until the end.
Although the SIAC champion and Division II All-American cleared the same height
as first-place finisher Matt Hemingway (2.27m), he used all three attempts
to clear the height. Hemingway cleared the bar in one attempt while second-place
finisher Jesse Williams went over the bar on his second try.
Former Southern University standout and National Indoor Long Jump Champion
Johnson also earned a spot on the team. Jumping
under the Ehi banner in the long jump competition, Johnson's fifth leap of
26' 6.5" (8.09m) gave him a solid
third place finish behind Miguel Pate and Dwight Phillips.
Although they did not make Team USA for the World Championships, St. Aug's
Tim Rusan, Howard's David Oliver and Jackson
State's Michel Tinsley did
make the finals at the USA Championships. Rusan finished 7th in the triple
jump. Oliver finished 8th in the 110 meter hurdles and Tinsley finished 9th
in the 400 meter hurdles.
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