Courtesy of Talladega College Athletics:
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Saturday marked the third consecutive week that the Talladega College outdoor track and field teams were in action. This time, the Tornadoes headed west to take part in the University of Alabama-Birmingham Spring Invitational, and it was a banner day for the program.
The Tornadoes grabbed a fourth place finish on the men’s side, as they amassed 74.5 points, and a seventh place with 30 points on the women’s final leaderboard. The Tornadoes were the second highest totalling NAIA team for both men and women in the event, and both finished ahead of a handful of NCAA Division I and Division II teams.
Talladega’s women did most of their scoring in the 200-meter dash. The Tornadoes scored with three different runners in the event, and the trio accounted for 11 points. Dhenecia Pinnock crossed the line third in a time of 25.34 seconds and she was rewarded with six points. Shanice Battle (25.72; 4 pts) was fifth, and Dhaenia Pinnock (25.87, 1 pt) was eighth in the event. Amia Montgomery finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles and scored three points, Brooklyn Talton secured a couple of points in the Javelin with a seventh place finish, and the relay teams both scored points as well – the 4×100-meter relay team finished sixth, and the 4×400-meter quartet took a victory.
As great of a day as the ‘Dega women had, the men were even better.
The Tornadoes claimed five event victories on the day. The star of the day for ‘Dega was Nastario Williams. The junior sprinter posted the second-fastest time of the season in the NAIA in the 100-meter dash, where he blazed across the line in 10.31 seconds to claim the victory in the race. He also hit the NAIA “A” standard with a 21.35 second trip in the 200-meter dash, and he single handedly racked up 20 of the Tornadoes 74.5 points. Unfortunately for Williams, the times in the 100-meter event was wind-aided, and therefore did not qualify him for the NAIA Championships, though he did punch his ticket in the 200-meters.
Emmanuel Niang won the 110-meter hurdles for the third straight weekend, His time of 13.95 seconds on Saturday marked the first and so far only sub-14 second mark in the event so far this season in the NAIA. The relay teams also shined in both events, as they set a UAB Facility record in the 4×100-meter relay (40.99 seconds), and in the 4×400-meter event, they won with a time of 3:21.27.
Christian Louis scored eight points in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.43 seconds – a time which hit the NAIA “B” standard in the event. Anthony Gentles and Jonathan Meadowsfinished second and fourth, respectively, in the 400-meter dash to score eight and five points, and Makel Patrick tied for fifth in the high jump to snag the final 3.5 points for the Tornadoes.
‘Dega will be back in action again next weekend when they head to Georgia to take part in the Kennesaw State Invitational.
