May 28, 2004

BATON ROUGE, La. - Miami University's women's 4x100 relay set a school record, but came up short in qualifying for the finals on the first day of the NCAA Women's Track & Field Regional, Friday, at Louisiana State University. Four athletes are looking to qualify for the NCAA Championships when action resumes Saturday, May 29.

The quartet of freshmen Lashonda Davis (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) and Jamila Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham) and seniors Bernitta Johnson (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./GAR Memorial) and Erika Harper (Bedford, Ohio/Bedford) combined on a record-time of 45.87, but missed the finals by 0.32 seconds. The foursome had fallen just 0.02 seconds short of the school record in winning the MAC Championship two weeks ago. The previous mark was 45.97, set at the 1997 MAC Championships.

Davis, the school-record holder both indoors and outdoors in the long jump, cleared 19-9 1/2 for ninth place in the event. She had qualified for the regionals with her record-setting jump of 20-7 1/2 and has a chance to earn an at-large on the strength of her record jump. At-large bids are to be announced on Monday.

Seniors Lauren Collins (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) and Erin Connolly (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) also competed on day one. Collins placed 10th in the hammer throw, registering a toss of 179-10. In the 100m hurdles, Connolly failed to make tomorrow's finals, finishing 21st in the preliminaries with a time of 13.88.

To qualify for the NCAA Championship meet, an athlete must finish in the top five of their regional, or be ranked among the top six to eight athletes in the nation that did not qualify at the regionals. The national meet is hosted by the University of Texas, June 9-12, in Austin, Texas.

The bulk of Miami's regional qualifiers are scheduled for action on day two. Collins in the shot put, senior Andrea Kremer (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) in the 3,000m steeplechase, senior Lindsay Hazen (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) in the high jump and Bernitta Johnson in the triple jump, are set to compete Saturday.