BCSP Notes . . .
Other results from U.S. Track and Field Championships
Loreal Smith put together one last outstanding performance before putting away her North Carolina A&T uniform for good.
Smith made the finals in the women's 100 meter hurdles at the 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Smith's entry into the finals gave her an opportunity to represent the U.S., in the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany in August.
Smith finished sixth in the finals with a time of 12.90 seconds. The time did not qualify for a school record because the tailwind was 2.2 meters per second, which exceeds the 2.0 reading allowable for records. The top four qualified for the trip to Berlin.
Smith did not walk away without setting a school record, however.
In the preliminary round she did run a 12.97 in a legal 1.4 wind to break
the previous school record she set at the MEAC Outdoor Track and
Field Championships in May at 13.14. She is now the only female Aggie ever
to run the 100 meter hurdles under 13 seconds. Smith made the finals
by running a 12.99 in a 3.2 wind in the semifinals earlier in the day.
Aggie sprinter Calesio Newman, jumper David McFadgen and two-time All-American Alexandria Spruiel also competed at the championships. Former Aggie Tarrish Alexander competed unattached in the long jump. Newman ran a 10.18 in the men's 100 meters but did not qualify. McFadgen did not place in the triple jump final, and Spruiel failed to qualify in the 400 meters.
Alexander finished 20th in the long jump with a leap of 24-feet, 9 inches.
NCAA 110-meter hurdles champion Ronnie Ash a sophomore at Bethune-Cookman could not make it out of the opening round of his event. He finished in a time of 13.57 seconds, 4/10ths of a second off making the semifinals.
Maryland Eastern Shore freshman Vanessa Henry finished 10th in the women's shot put at the 2009 USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships also held at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field Friday.
Elsewhere, Maryland Eastern Shore rising senior Allodin Fothergill finished second in the 400 meters at the Jamaican Track and Field Senior National Championships at that country's National Stadium this past weekend.
SWAC upgrades video editing, film exchange processes
The Southwestern Athletic Conference has signed a five-year agreement with LRS Sports to provide video-editing software and equipment for the Conference's 10-member institutions. Also, the SWAC has signed a five-year agreement with DragonFly Athletics for the digital internet exchange of video.
As part of the agreement with LRS Sports, among the items each Conference athletic department will receive include cameras with accessories, video-editing software, laptops and a server to provide consistent, top-quality game-file sharing for football.
SWAC Commissioner Duer Sharp said, "The LRS Sports System will allow our schools to quickly, efficiently edit game film. This will help our coaches to be more efficient, which in turn will raise the level of performance of our outstanding student athletes."
LRS (Levi, Ray, & Shoup, Inc.) provides video editing solutions to head coaches and video coordinators for sports programs. Their products focus on the full range of athletic program needs at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels.
The Conference's agreement with DragonFly Athletics will allow for the internet transfer of game film. With an average transmission time of 45 minutes, teams can now exchange game film at the click of a button.
"All of our institutions will be able to spend less time exchanging film and more time preparing for success,' said Sharp. "These new technologies will greatly assist our coaches and student-athletes."
DragonFly Athletics provides video-exchange for more than 150 NCAA Division I institutions and some the nation's top conferences including the SEC, Big East and ACC.
"The SWAC has been extremely aggressive in their efforts to advance technologically within their athletic departments," said Chad Q. Brown, Director of Business Operations, DragonFly Athletics, LLC. "Commissioner Sharp and his staff have been so impressive to watch as they set their sights on being a league that is truly proactive in sports technology."
© 2009 Azeez Communications, Inc.