Terrance Laird of LSU and Florida State pair JoVaughn Martin and Kasaun James were among the fastest qualifiers in the preliminary round of the men’s 100m at the 2021 NCAA East Regional Preliminary round track and field championships on Wednesday, May 26. The four-day meeting is being held at Hodges Stadium here at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, FL.
Laird, the fastest in the nation this season in both the 100m and 200m, got off to a slow start in his heat, but managed to work his way back into the lead before clocking a wind-assisted 10.00 seconds (+3.1 m/s) to take heat three of the six heats. FSU’s James followed him home in second place with a time of 10.06.
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Meanwhile, Martin of FSU ran 10.03 to take the fourth heat and was assisted by a +2.8 m/s wind. Arian Smith of Georgia was second in the heat in 10.14 secs.
Also winning their first-round heat was Georgia’s Matthew Boling, who clocked 10.21 seconds with the help of a +2.7 m/s wind to take the sixth heat, with Rikkoi Brathwaite of Indiana also credited with the same time for second place in the heat same race.
Joseph Amoah of Coppin State, the MEAC standout, took heat two with a time of 10.11 (1.9 m/s) with Ismael Kone of New Orleans following him home in 10.14s for a personal best, while Samson Colebrooke of Purdue also running a personal best of 10.18 for third.
Also securing passages to the next round on Friday were Javonte Harding of North Carolina A&T (10.19 PB), Florida’s Dedrick Vanover (10.19 PB), and Joseph Fahnbulleh (10.26), as well as Lance Lang of Kentucky who ran 10.20.
The top three finishers from each heat plus the next six fastest times made up the 24 sprinters advancing to the quarterfinal round of the men’s 100m at the 2021 NCAA East Regional round track and field championships.
The next round will be contested on Friday where the field will be trimmed to 12 athletes who will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field from June 9-12.
