Fort Valley State University

The 2008 outdoor track & field season will come to an end later this week (May 22-24) for the Fort Valley State University track program as several members will be participating in the NCAA Division II Championships. All of the action will take place in Walnut, Calif., and will be held at the Mount San Antonio College Track & Field Complex. Cal Poly-Pomona is this host institution. Over 600 athletes will be participating in the event, and for the sixth consecutive year, Fort Valley State University will have a presence at the national championships. Ten athletes (seven men, three women) will compete for the NCAA crown in their events.

For the women, Nicole Mobley (100m), Antionette Oglesby (long jump/triple jump) and Kiana Key (triple jump) will be competing. Mobley qualified for the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.92 seconds, and will begin her quest for an NCAA title in the preliminaries slated to begin on Thursday at 5:20 p.m. Nicole will be in heat 1. Finals for the 100m will be held on Saturday at 6:42 p.m. Oglesby will compete in the long jump on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. Antionette qualified for that event with a distance of 6.03 meters. On Friday, Oglesby and teammate Key will both be competing in the triple jump which is slated to begin at 6:15 p.m. Oglesby enters that event ranked 2nd in the country with her season best effort of 12.50 meters. Key qualified for the triple jump with a distance of 11.88 meters.

In men’s action, Fort Valley State will be going for titles in four individual events and two relay races. In the 100 meter dash, Xavier Hair and Jeffery Mosley will both be competing for the title. Hair, who earlier this season set the FVSU school record in the event (10.32), comes into the meet with the second best time in the nation. Mosley qualified for the 100m with a time of 10.48. Prelims are scheduled to begin on Thursday at 5:35 with Hair running in heat 1 and Mosley running in heat 3. Mosley will also be competing in the 200m dash with teammate Keon Montgomery, who qualified with a time of 21.29. Mosley ran time of 21.26 to make the cut. Prelims in the 200 are scheduled for Friday at 6:00 p.m. with Montgomery running in heat 3 and Mosley running in heat 4. Marquis Andrews will carry Fort Valley’s hopes in the 400 meters thanks to his qualifying time of 47.40. Prelims for the 400m will be held on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. with the finals slated for Saturday at 6:33 p.m. Steven Jackson, who qualified for the finals last season in Charlotte, NC in the 110 meter hurdles, hopes to do the same this year. Jackson punched his ticket to the NCAA’s with a time of 14.51, and his quest for a repeat performance (which earned him All-American honors) is scheduled to start on Friday at 7:10 p.m. in heat 2.

In the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, Fort Valley State enters both events ranked among the best in Division II. The 4x100 relay team (Steven Jackson, Keon Montgomery, Marquis Andrews, Jeffery Mosley) enter the event with a qualifying time of 40.13 (4th in D-II). Prelims for the 4x100 are set for Thursday at 4:10 with the finals set to start at 5:40 p.m. on Saturday. Last year, the 4x100 meter team finished 2nd in the finals. Thanks to its time of 3:07.38, the 4x400 meter relay has the second best time going into the meet. Cameron Miller, Marquis Andrews, Quartrez Strickland and Keon Montgomery will be looking to bring home the trophy for FVSU. Prelims for the 4x400 are scheduled to start at 9:10 p.m. on Friday with the finals scheduled for 8:37 p.m. on Saturday.

First year head coach Marlo Mincey is pleased about the performance of her cadre of athletes. “I feel good about the people we have going to nationals, but I am kind of nervous for my kids. I want everything to go right for them.” As stated earlier, Fort Valley State has had a steady presence at the outdoor championships the last five or six years, but Mincey is far from being complacent. “I had my mind set on 11 athletes making it to the nationals, but we got 10 in. I thought we might be able to get two more to qualify, but I can’t be upset about that.”

To follow the progress of the meet, log on to www.ncaasports.com.

FVSU PARTICIPANTS IN 2008
NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

MEN
Xavier Hair
Quartrez Strickland
Keon Montgomery
Jeffery Mosley
Steven Jackson
Marquis Andrews
Cameron Miller
WOMEN
Nicole Mobley
Antionette Oglesby
Kiana Key