Track & Field

Reese qualifies for nationals

Tai’Shea Reese was unable to improve her mark, but still qualified for nationals on Friday at the Arkansas Last Chance Meet in Fayetteville, Ark.

Reese placed fourth in the women’s long jump with a mark of 20-.50. Reese qualified for nationals with her previous mark of 20-6.25.

Isaiah Sweeney placed fifth in the men’s long jump with a mark of 24-5.50, just short of the 25-2.00 mark needed for nationals. Sweeney was unable to participate in the 60-meter dash due to an injury.

Head coach Leroy Burrell said it is a pretty tall order to qualify at a last-chance meet, especially with a lingering injury.

“In the events that he does, it’s best to be a hundred percent, I thought Isaiah competed admirably at the conference meet,” Burrell said. “He was able to recover slightly and compete fairly well at the last chance meet.”

Burrell said that Sweeney’s failure to qualify for nationals does not take anything away from the season he had.

“He has scored a whole lot of points for this team at the meets and has really asserted himself as a team leader,” Burrell said.

Senior hurdler DeMeeka Jones placed fourth in her event with a mark of 8.36. Jones needed to improve her season’s best mark of 8.38 by .18 to be considered at nationals.

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