Spriggs, Beebe qualify automatically for NCAA Championship Meet
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Salisbury University senior Delannie Spriggs is having a pretty good month of March. The Owings, Md., native won a national championship in the 55-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Track Championship Meet last weekend and was subsequently named the Division III National Male Track Athlete of the Year. Saturday, he kept on rolling as he finished in second place in the 100-meter dash at the Wake Forest Invitational in a school-record time of 10.53 seconds, automatically qualifying him for the NCAA Track & Field Championship Meet held in late May.
Spriggs was part of a strong contingent of Salisbury athletes that showed well at the meet, which featured numerous athletes from all three NCAA divisions. Spriggs was not the only Sea Gull to put up an NCAA qualifying time on Saturday. Senior Cory Beebe (Medina, Ohio) placed second in the 400-meter hurdles posting a time of 51.93 seconds, also automatically qualifying for the NCAA championship meet.
Senior Brandon Fugett (Randallstown, Md.) followed a successful day on Friday with a fifth-place finish in the hammer throw, with a distance of 162’ 3” on Saturday. The distance matched his discus throw of a day earlier that set a school record and provisionally qualified him for the NCAA championship meet. Sophomore Jay Drenner (Eldersburg, Md.) finished eighth in the hammer throw, with a top distance of 146’ 9”.
The men also earned a 10th-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay as the team of sophomore Paul Moore (Odenton, Md.) and seniors Michael Marfut (Hagerstown, Md.), Quentin Briscoe (Windsor Mill, Md.) and Beebe finished with a time of 3:21.07
The Salisbury women saw a top 10 finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by sophomore Becca Stinner (Darnestown, Md.), who completed the race in 11:54.66. Freshman Chelsea Tavik (Glen Burnie, Md.) placed 15th in the javelin throw (112’ 2”) while senior Janay Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) took 17th place in the discus competition (114’ 3”).
The Sea Gull athletes will be back in action next Saturday when they travel to College Park, Md., to compete in the Maryland Terrapin Invitational.
