Fayetteville, Ark. ? Sophomore Melitta Brown (York, Ontario / Sacred Heart) hit the qualifying standard for the 2008 Canadian Senior Championship in two events this past weekend as the Robert Morris University women's track and field team competed at the University of Arkansas' John McDonnell Invitational.
Brown, who earned the right to compete in her homeland's Olympic trials at last year's Arkansas meet, did it again by beating the standard in both the women's long jump and women's triple jump. Her mark of 5.66m in the long jump not only placed her ninth, but also broke a 14-year old school record set by Jenn Nauss at the 1994 Panther Relays. In the triple jump she finished in ninth place with a distance of 11.56m.
Along with Brown's accomplishment, senior Nicole Carter (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Shaler) almost set a new school record herself. Carter marked the second fastest time in school history by finishing second in women's 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:50.57, just two seconds shy of tying Jill Cordon's time of 4:48.57 set at the 1992 NEC Championships.
Senior Sarah Antonaitis (Endicott, N.Y. / Union Endicott) also put on an impressive performance on the track. The senior finished the women's 5,000-meter run in ninth place with a time of 18:47.44.
Sophomore Ashley Turici (Zelienople, Pa. / Seneca Valley) rounded out the meet in the throwing events by finishing seventh in the women's hammer throw with a toss of 41.51m and 13th in the javelin with a heave 36.29m.
Robert Morris returns to action this weekend on Saturday, April 26 when the Colonials travel to Loretto, Pa. for the Saint Francis Invitational.
