Two School Records Fall At Mount Olive Final Qualifier

MOUNT OLIVE FINAL QUALIFIER

MEET: Mount Olive Final Qualifier

LOCATION: University of Mount Olive – Mount Olive, N.C.

RECAP: Two sprint school records go down as Northwood track & field wraps up last chance week at Mount Olive Sunday (May 12).

MEN'S 100, WOMEN'S 200 RECORDS FALL

Two school records went down today in the sprints en route to event wins at Mount Olive.

The first record to go down was the men's 100 meters on a new personal best by sophomore Mason Phillips. His victorious time of 10.34 seconds edged the previous record of 10.35 seconds set by Matt Jackson in 2000. He moves up to No. 11 on the national performance list after improving upon his previous NCAA provisional mark and personal best of 10.42 run at the Mt. SAC Relays in April.

Phillips also won the 200 meter dash in 21.01 seconds. Although not an improvement upon his seasonal best of 20.97, he is ranked No. 18 on the national list.

The second school record of the day came on an outstanding performance by freshman Debra Wallace - breaking the women's 200 meter record on an event-winning time of 24.20 seconds. The previous record was 24.30 set by NU Hall of Famer Cicilie Murdock in 1987.

Wallace's previous collegiate best coming into this weekend was 24.42 from the GVSU Al Owens Classic in April. She is ranked No. 28 on the NCAA Division II performance list with a chance at getting into the national meet.

INSIDE THE MEET

Senior Rami Gharsalli posted the No. 2 time in Division II this year on his way to winning the 110 meter hurdles, clocking a victorious time of 13.92 seconds. This is a personal best for Gharsalli of .05 seconds, improving upon his previous best of 13.97 run in the preliminaries of the NCAA Division II Championships in 2017. 

This was an improvement upon his second-place ranking in program history for the 110 hurdles as he inches closer to Lionel Campbell's school record of 13.87 set in 1980.

Freshman Andrew Davis broke into the top ten all-time in program history for the 100 meters after registering a personal best time of 10.74 seconds – he is tied for eighth in program history with sophomore teammate Austin Hamlet. His previous best was 10.84 set at the GLIAC Championships. Also in the 100 meters, Hamlet was clocked at 10.99 for a seasonal best.

The men's 4x100 meter relay of Hamlet, Phillips, Gharsalli and Davis placed seventh in 41.19 seconds.

UP NEXT: The accepted entries list into the national championships will be released Tuesday (May 14). Those student-athletes accepted into the meet will compete at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships May 23-25 in Kingsville, Texas.

Lauren Ellsworth / T&F