The two-day NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships have concluded, and it proved to be fruitful for many of the HBCU stars involved.
Of the 15 HBCU athletes who qualified for the National Championships, five of them finished in the top eight of their respective event, including four top five finishes.
Claflin’s Morgan Coverson-Springs had the best finish of them all, clocking in at 8.31 seconds in the 60m hurdles, coming in second place.
She qualified for the finals of the 60m hurdles after running 8.38 seconds in the first round, the fourth-best time of the field and third in her heat.
This gives her the distinction of having the best finish of any Claflin women’s track & field athlete at the Division II Indoor National Championships, becoming the first to finish within the top three since 2016.
In the same race, Lincoln (MO)’s Aaliyannah Anderson, who narrowly qualified for the finals after running 8.45 seconds in the first round, came in seventh after mirroring her first round time.
Virginia Union’s Antonio Smith secured a top-three finish of his own, coming in third in the finals of the men’s 60m hurdles in 7.79 seconds.
In the first round, Smith posted the seventh-best time of the field in 7.87 seconds, setting a new season-high that he would eventually beat in the finals.
Shifting over to the field events, Lincoln (MO)’s Malik Drummond posted a 15.57m on his third jump to advance in the top nine of the field, eventually finishing fourth.
This is an improvement over his performance at last year’s Indoor Track & Field Championships, in which he placed 12th.
Rounding out the top five finishers from the Division II Championships is Benedict’s Zach Washington, claiming fifth-place in the men’s long jump with a measurement of 7.41m.
