Five Auburn track athletes had a successful two days at the Trinidad and Tobago Championships held in Hasely Crawford Stadium on June 20-21. Fana Ashby, Marc Burns, Josanne Lucas, Damion Barry and Sherridan Kirk all medalled at the championships and qualified to compete in the 2004 Olympics Games.
In the 100-meter dash semi-finals, junior Ashby was clocked at a wind-legal 11.12. With this mark, Ashby set a new Trinidad and Tobago national record and broke an 11-year-old Auburn mark set by Juliet Campbell in 1993. Ashby went on to capture the gold in the dash with a time of 11.03 and a 2.2-meters per second headwind."I am surprised," Ashby noted. "I came home looking for 11.1. I am excited about 11.03. I had a long, hard year training and it is beginning to payoff."
Ashby also competed with the 400-meter relay team of Keenan Gibson, Kimberly Walker and Ayanna Hutchinson who won the race with a time of 44.07. She will move on to the Athens Games to compete in both the 100-meter dash and the 400-meter relay.
Sophomore Marc Burns ran a close 100-meter dash with Ato Boldon and World Championship silver medallist Darrel Brown, brother of Auburn runner Darron Brown, and finished third with a season-best time of 10.25. Just two weeks ago, Burns clocked a 9.99 wind-aided mark at the preliminaries of the NCAA Championships.
In the women's 400-meters, sophomore Josanne Lucas finished third with a personal-best time of 54.14, the ninth best in Auburn outdoor history. Lucas also competed in two other events, including the gold medal 1600-meter relay team of Melissa DeLeon, Abigail David and Nickeisha Charles who ran a time of 3:32.80 and in the 400-meter hurdles where she placed second.
Junior Damion Barry ran a season-best 45.75 in the men's 400-meters to place him second. This mark becomes the 10th best in Auburn outdoor history. Barry also competed with the gold medal 1600-meter relay team of Simon Pierre, Ato Modibo and AU's Sherridan Kirk. Kirk also won the gold in the 800-meters with a time of 1:50.75.
