HBCU tracksters make USA team for Worlds
Four athletes with HBCU connections have earned spots on the USA Team for the 2005 World Outdoor Track and Field Championships to be held August 6-14 in Helsinki, Finland.
Former St. Augustine's hurdler Bershawn
Jackson, former Hampton hurdler James
Carter, Florida A&M half-miler Kevin
Hicks and Morehouse high jumper Keith
Moffatt earned spots on the team by finishing in the top
three in their respective events at the USA Outdoor Track and Field
Championships at the Home Depot Center June 23-26 in Carson, Ca.
Jackson and Carter finished second and third in the 400 meter hurdles finals respectively. Hicks finished third in the 800 meter run and Moffatt captured third place in the high jump.
Jackson, the reigning USA Indoor 400 meter champion, finished second in the 400 meter 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.
Hicks' 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.
Moffat just completed his sophomore year at Morehouse as did Hicks at FAMU.
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 (7' 5.25"), 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.
Although they did not make Team USA for the World Championships, St. Augus-tine's triple jumper Tim Rusan, Howard 110-meter hurdler David Oliver and Jackson State 400 meter hurdler Michel Tinsley did make the finals at the USA Championships.
Rusan finished seventh in the triple jump. Oliver finished eighth in the
110 meter hurdles and Tinsley finished ninth in the 400 meter hurdles.
© 2005 Azeez Communications, Inc.