CSU Men and Women Perform Well at War Eagle Invitational

Auburn, Ala. --  The Columbus State men's and women's track teams competed in the War Eagle Invitational at Auburn University over the weekend and performed well in what was a non-scoring meet for the teams. A number of athletes set season-best times and also improved upon NCAA qualifying marks at the event.

On the men's side, Meshack Koyiaki set season-best times in the 1500m and in the 5000m and hit NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the process. In the 1500, Koyiaki ran a time of 3:48.58 and that time ranks him third in the Division II rankings. His time of 14:32 in the 5000 ranks him 10th in Division II.

The men's 4x400 relay team of Gerald Chichester, Chris Patrick, Phillip Burks, and Jeremy Williams improved their season-best time to 3:19.0. Williams recorded a season-best in the 400 with a time of 49.53, while Chichester got a season-best in the 400 hurdels with a time of 57.62.

Nicholas Kering (3:58.77 in the 1500), John Neill (15:16.37 in the 5000). Stewart Helton (15:40.8 in the 5000) and Andy Henderson (15:57.05 in the 5000) also set their top marks of the season so far.

On the women's side, Shan Crawford improved her NCAA qualifying time and set a season best with a fast mark of 11.84 in the 100m. She joined with Ibu Awoyale, LaQuita Daniel and Raquisha Givens in the 4x100 relay and set a season-best with a time of 47.75 to rank that team 17th best in Division II.

Daniel and Givens set season benchmarks in the 100 with times of 12.38 and 12.57 respectively, while Daniel also had her best time of the season in the 200 with a time of 25.53. Brittney Skiles (4:47.58, 1500) and Ashley Arnold (18:45.03, 5000) also set season-best times.

The CSU teams return to the track on May 1 at the Southeast Regional in Huntsville, Alabama, as they try to qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships later in May.