Familiar names in the illustrious history of Barton Community College Track and Field had a successful weekend on the track punching their ticket to the IAAF World Championships. Competing in various national championships around the globe, three former Cougars reached qualification levels to represent their country in Beijing, China, August 22-30.
At the top of the list was Tyson Gay winning the USATF Outdoor Championships at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, taking the 100m crown in 9.87 seconds. Clocking his best time since the 2012 season, the 2003 Barton alumn qualified for the World Championships for the first time since 2009.
An upstart in the track and field world, Aleec Harris made the U.S. team in his first year of professional competition with a 13.25 lean for a fourth place finish. Harris, a 2011 Barton Alum who went on to stardom at the University of Southern California, was outside the top three but will represent the red, white, and blue in Being due to fellow countryman and reigning World Champion David Oliver receiving a bye to this year’s championships.
Two former Lady Cougars also competed in the U.S. Championships but failed to make the national team. Latosha Wallace, a 2005 alumn, improved on her 400m Hurdle preliminary round time to place 12th in the semifinals at 57.45. From the class of 2003, LaShauntea Moore clocked her best 100m time since 2011 finishing 20th in 11.22.
Veronica Campbell-Brown also punched her ticket to Beijing in two events this past weekend at the Jamaican Championships. The 2003 alumn and 2005 Hall of Fame inductee just missed her season best in the 100m coming in third with a time of 11.06 as the two-time Olympic gold medalist also placed third in the 200mwas upset in the event coming in at 23.02.
Triple Jumper and 2014 Barton Hall of Fame member Leevan Sands continued his comeback leaping a season best 16.64m (54-07.25) in finishing 2nd at the Bahamas National Championships. Sands, a 2002 graduate and three time Olympian including a 2008 bronze medalist, was competing in just his third event since an injury suffered in the 2012 Olympic games and reached qualifying standards for the 2015 Pan Am Games July 10-26 in Toronto, Canada.
