GRINNELL, Iowa – Guilford College sophomore Johnathan Smith (Conyers, Ga./Salem) broke school and facility records with the best 60-meter dash qualifying time Friday at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships.
By qualifying for Saturday’s final, Smith is guaranteed All-America status from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association. A two-time outdoor All-American, he is the Quakers’ first indoor track and field student-athlete so honored.
Smith edged Colby College’s Dominique Kano by two-hundredths of a second and won the second of two qualifying heats in 6.76 seconds. Smith broke his own school record of 6.84 seconds set Feb. 24 at the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championships. His time also beat the Charles Benson Bear Recreation and Athletic Center field house record of 6.81 seconds, set by McMurry University’s Kenneth Turner in 2011. Turner won Friday’s first qualifying heat in 6.80 seconds, the days’ third-fastest time.
The heat winners and those with the next six fastest times advance to Saturday’s (3/10) finals, which are scheduled for 4:35 p.m.
Smith is the lone contestant for interim coach Danny Cash’s Quakers at this year’s championships.
NCAA Division III
2012 Indoor Track & Field Championships
Grinnell, IA – 3/9/2012 to 3/10/2012
Men 60 Meter Dash Preliminaries:
1. 303 Johnathan Smith, Guilford, # 6.76Q;
2. 323 Kenneth Turner, McMurry, # 6.80Q;
3. 279 Dominique Kone, Colby, # 6.78q;
4. 480 Victor Banjo, Wittenberg, 6.86q;
5. 302 Bruce Gray, Greenville, 6.89q;
6. 360 Sean Bernstein, Oneonta, 6.90q;
7. 392 Phito Gondre, UMass Dartmouth, 6.91q;
8. 290 Davivorn Dowe, Dubuque, 6.92q;
9. 384 Chris Medina, TCNJ, 6.99;
10. 430 Alex Koenen, Wis.-La Crosse, 7.00;
11. 363 Ackeme Brown, Ramapo, 7.02;
12. 469 Nick Bee, Wis.-Whitewater, 7.03;
–. 381 Cody Jerabek, St. Thomas (Minn.), DNS.