April 26, 2008

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - North Carolina Central University won two events during the prestigious Penn Relays on Saturday, including one that brought the crowd of nearly 50,000 to its feet.

For the first time during NCCU head coach Michael Lawson's 19-year tenure, the Eagles ran to victory in the 4x100-meter relay college division. The NCCU foursome of sophomore Mark Davis (Cape Coral, Fla.), sophomore Jeff Rankins (Bullock, N.C.), junior Christopher Davis (Charlotte, N.C.) and senior Maurice Gailey (Pensacola, Fla.) posted a blistering time of 40.05 seconds in the finals after recording the 10th fastest overall time of 40.29 seconds in Friday's preliminaries.

"Mark Davis exploded out of the blocks and ate up the turn," Lawson said. "Then Jeff Rankins flew down the straightaway and all of the fans stood up in amazement. It was a sight to see."

The Eagles beat out second place Texas Christian (40.25), third place Hampton (40.56), fourth place Texas-San Antonio (41.42), fifth place Bethune-Cookman (41.42) and sixth place Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (41.45).

NCCU junior Will Scott (Charlotte, N.C.) captured the Eagles' other victory by leaping a season-best 15.46 meters (50-feet, 8.75-inches) to win the triple jump college division. Scott's distance was more than four inches longer than second place Stephen Harden of Chicago State (15.34m/50-4) and nearly a foot better than third place Jamal Cumberbatch of Saint Augustine's (15.16m/49-9).

In other top performances, NCCU placed eighth in the college men's sprint medley Championship of America. The squad, consisting of Christopher Davis, Gailey, senior Rashaad Lee (Willingboro, N.J.) and junior Brandon Jones (Lynchburg, Va.), finished as the top HBCU with a time of 3:21.30, less than a second behind seventh place East Carolina (3:20.58).

NCCU's men's 4x400m relay team placed sixth in the college division finals with a time of 3:15.65.

NCCU junior Eric Smalls (Raleigh, N.C.) placed seventh in the college division shot put with a heave of 15.87 meters (52-0.75). Smalls' effort trailed sixth place Nick Baucum of Texas by less than nine inches, yet bettered eighth place Dave Zaycek of South Carolina by more than nine inches.