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Frogs take silver in men's 4x400 relay on final day of NCAA Championships
Banda, Hodge, men's and women's 4x400 earn All-America honors
June 10, 2006
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Flyin' Frogs closed out the 2006 season on a high note as the men's 4x400 relay team notched a silver medal and All-America accolades in the final day of the 2006 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the A.G. Spanos Sports Complex on the campus of Sacramento State. In addition, Lewis Banda, Virgil Hodge and the women's 4x400 relay squad garnered All-America status. In the final race of the national meet, sophomore Che Chavez broke out of the pack to give TCU a small lead heading into the first exchange to Delwayne Delaney. Both Delaney and Jackson Langat, running the third leg, maintained their pace at the top half of the race before Banda took over the final 400 meters. Banda gained momentum down the final stretch and would close the gap on LSU. The Tigers held on for the win as the Frog men posted a runner-up finish with a season-best 3:02.12. TCU came within 0.03 second of breaking the school's 4x400 outdoor record that was set in 1983. "I think things went well for us overall at the NCAA this year," TCU head track and field coach Darryl Anderson said. "We encountered some obstacles with Jackson Langat not advancing to the finals, but I think everyone stepped up this week. I don't think anyone in the stands expected our men's 4x400 team to finish second, but I told the guys before the race that we can be one of the top two teams in the race and we did just that."
TCU also got an All-America certificate from its women's 4x400 quartet of Deborah Jones, Marquita Davis, Kishelle Paul and Nathandra John. Three of the four from last year's 4x400 squad returned to shatter the school record they set in 2005, clocking a season-best 3:30.00 for a seventh-place finish. In the individual finals, Banda got off to a good start in the men's 400 meters. He held a slight lead heading into the turn, but the rest of the competition would gain ground on the Zimbabwe native coming out of the turn. Banda broke his season-best mark for the third time this week with a 45.10, finishing fourth in the race. Banda, who earned All-America honors at the 2006 NCAA Indoor Track Championships, was also instrumental in the men's 4x100 and 4x400 relays that notched All-America status. "I felt pretty good before the race, but I could have ran faster," Banda said. "I went off hard and did not relax. I tried to run the whole race and that messed me up." For sophomore Virgil Hodge, it had been a long week battling through fatigue. The St. Kitts native survived the prelims and semifinals to advance all the way to the women's 200-meter finals. Hodge ran a 23.30 on Saturday afternoon, finishing seventh overall and garnering an All-America certificate. "The week has been a long week for me," Hodge said. "My body and legs are really tired, but I came to the NCAA on motivation. I would have liked to finish in the top three, but it was important to make it to finals and get All-America honors." In the women's division, TCU tied for 47th with 10 other schools, collecting a total of four points. It marks the sixth consecutive year the Frog women scored at the national meet. "Our men and women ran their absolute best at the meet," coach Anderson added. "I think everyone knows that TCU is a contender. We (the coaches) just need to make the program better by continually working harder with the student-athletes and helping them elevate to the next level." The Flyin' Frogs conclude the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships with two individual All-Americans (Banda and Hodge) and three All-America relay teams (men's 4x100 relay, women's 4x400 relay and men's 4x400 relay. 2006 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships TCU Results - Saturday, June 10 MEN 400 Meters (Semifinals) Triple Jump (Finals) 4x400 Relay (Finals) - 3:02.12# WOMEN 200 Meters (Finals) 4x400 Relay (Finals) - 3:30.00# #All-America |
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