Ashley Breaks School Record In 400-Meter Dash At NCAA Championships
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. ?€“?€“ Mississippi State University senior all-American Jamel Ashley inched one step closer to improving on his eighth place finish from a year ago in the 400-meter dash on the third day of the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The event is being held at the Alex G. Spanos Complex in Sacramento, Calif.
Ashley posted the second-best semifinal time, running a blistering 44.98, a personal and school record for the Dudley, Ga.-native. The previous school record was held by Jude Monye (45.04), set in 1995.
Ashley finished ahead of Arkansas' Terry Gatson and 2004 Olympian Kelly Willie of LSU. Saturday's final is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT.
Senior LaChristopher Lewis was awarded all-American status in the long jump after finishing 11th during Thursday's competition. Lewis was previously named an all-American in the 400-meter dash (2003) and 4x400-meter relay (2004).
MSU's 4x400-meter relay team of freshman Elzie Coleman, sophomore all-American Arthur Davis, Ashley and Lewis close out the 2005 campaign on Saturday at 10:35 CT.
"If Arthur (Davis) can run what he has been again and with Jamel running like he did tonight, we could run 3:01 in the 4x4 final tomorrow," said MSU head coach Al Schmidt. "Jamel's going at it in the 400 and will be running in the 4x4 as well. He just needs to keep doing what he's doing. We may still finish top 15 as a team. Hopefully, through all of the adversity, we can show we're still one of the top teams in the country."