June 7, 2007
Sacramento, Calif. - Improving a total of eight places over its national ranking entering the week, the Western Carolina men's 4x100-meter relay team finished ninth, just missing out on the national finals as the Catamounts concluded their season at the NCAA National Championships at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.
Also competing as an individual, sophomore Manteo Mitchell ran 26th in the 400-meter dash.
Running in the third of three heats, the team of Mitchell, junior Zeb Johnson, freshman Dominique Young and sophomore Kevin Johnson passed the baton in 40.09 to place third in their heat. Western finished just over half a second behind heat winner - and second-quickest in preliminaries - Tennessee (39.42) and were just under two-tenths of a second behind heat runner-up, Middle Tennessee State (39.90). With only the three heat winners and the next five top times advancing to the finals, Western was left out as Clemson (40.04) edged the Catamounts by five-one hundredths of a second.
Five of the top eight times came from the first heat, with LSU (39.36) leading the field on times entering the event finals.
Individually, Mitchell - who just hours before had run the lead leg of the 400-meter relay - clocked a time of 47.89 to finish fifth in his heat and 26th overall in the 400-meter dash. The sophomore from Mooresboro, N.C., ends his second season at Western as the school record holder in the event, turning a time of 46.23 at the Western Invitational which had qualified him for the NCAA East Regional.
With Western missing out on the finals at the national meet, the performances of Mitchell and the 4x100-meter relay team conclude the athletic seasons for WCU.
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