Columbia International University Athletics

For the first time ever the Columbia International University Men's and Women's Track and Field team are taking part in the AAC Championships. Today was day one of the two day meet and the Rams started off strong with a couple athletes scoring points in the field and on the track.

The day got started with Seth Despres taking part in the 100 meter dash as part of the decathlon. Despres ran a solid 100 meter dash finishing in second with a time of 11.38 seconds. After a short break it was onto the long jump for Despres as he jumped 5.30 meters to finish in second again. Despres and the other two competitors moved onto the shot put where Despres came in first by over a meter with a throw of 9.53 meters. The final two events for the day as part of the decathlon were the high jump and 400 meter dash. In the high jump Despres cleared 1.55 meters and picked up key points while in the 400 meter he finish first with a time of 56.04 seconds. After the first day of events Despres is fifteen points off the lead.

Dizayuh Hinton threw the shot for the Rams today. Hinton was in flight two and threw 11.54 meters which place him in the finals. In the finals Hinton improved upon his mark with a throw 11.84 meters which placed him sixth overall in the shot put. Hinton did not wait long for his next event as the hammer throw followed the shot put. In the hammer throw Hinton made it to the finals yet again finishing in ninth place with a mark of 31.88 meters.

Britney Brown and Sam Wammock took part in the women's shot put and were each in flight two. Brown's best throw in the flight was 11.74 meters, while Wammock's was 10.41 meters. Each of their marks advanced them into the finals where Brown finished third overall and Wammock finished sixth overall.

Crystal Jones and Shyann Miller were the first from the women's team on the track today in the 100 meter hurdles. Miller and Jones each finished through strong winds with times of 18.10 and 18.30. 

Blake Guillozet was the next Ram on the track for the 1500 meter run which is his first event of two for the meet. Guillozet stuck with the pack throughout the whole race, but faltered at the end finishing tenth overall with a time of 4:25.

The event for the Rams on the day was the women's and men's 10,000 meter run. Janna Imes competed in the women's and ran a solid race finishing close to personal record with a time of 41:33. With her time, Imes finished fourth overall almost a minute faster the the fifth place finisher. Running in the last race of his collegiate career Michael Knight competed and laid it all out of the track. Knight stuck with the lead pack for the beginning of the race and finished with an overall time of 37:18.

The Rams will be back in action tomorrow so stay tuned for more updates on tomorrow's results.