April 5, 2010

Jacksonville, Ala. --  Columbus State's women's and men's track teams had another successful meet over the weekend, each finishing fifth at the Gem of the Hills Invitational hosted by Jacksonville State University. The Cougar women finished with 38 points, while the men posted 71.

Kennesaw State won the women's team title with 172 points, followed by Georgia State with 136.5, Jacksonville State with 131, Tennessee Tech with 84 and CSU with 38. The Cougars were the top non-Division I team in the meet. There were 18 total teams competing.

On the men's side, Kennesaw State also took the team title with 146 points. Stillman was second with 114.5, Emory third with 93, Alabama-Huntsville fourth with 74.5 and CSU fifth with 71. There were a total of 15 men's teams competing. 

For the women, Shan Crawford was again the top performer. Crawford posted wins in the 100 meter and 200 meter races. She ran a 12.00 in the 100 and then set a new meet record and hit an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 24.45 in the 200. 

Naomi Tanui finished second in the 5000 meters with a time of 18:25.63, while Crawford teamed with Raquisha Givens, Ibukunolua Awoyale, and Laquita Daniel to finish third in the 4x100 with a time of 48.42. 

On the men's side, Meshack Koyiaki won the 1500 meters with a time of 3:49.07 and also hit an NCAA provisional qualifying mark with a time of 1:52.91 in the 800 meters, finishing second in that race. Kering set the meet record in the 5000 meters with a time of 14:49.62

Jeremy Williams finished seventh in the 200 meters (22.34) and 10th in the 100 meters (11.27). Chris Patrick was seventh in the 800 with a time of 1:57.43. Russell Jones took fifth in the 1500 with a time of 4:14.22, while Nathan Pricket (15:51.51), John Neill (15:56.88), Stewart Helton (15:59.43) and Andy Henderson (16:03.95) took positions 4-7 in the 5000 meters. 

Both CSU teams return to action as they host the Peach Belt Challenge on April 10 at the Evilsizer Track Complex in Smiths Station, Ala.