Allen, Young Advance at NCAA Prelims

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Both Lavon Allen and Javon Young advanced to the next rounds in the long jump and 100-meter dash, respectively, on the first day of competition at the 2012 NCAA East Preliminaries at Hodges Stadium Track & Field on Friday.  The University of North Florida is hosting the event in Jacksonville this weekend. 

Allen started things off with a distance of 7.34 meters on his first attempt of the day.  His second jump went for 7.48 meters and his third for a distance of 7.35 meters, with his second attempt placing him 14th overall.  His ranking earned him a spot in the finals as the field was narrowed to 16 competitors down from 47. 

With his first attempt in the final round, Allen increased his distance to 7.51 meters.  His second attempt went for 7.40 meters, with his final jump measured at 7.46 meters.  Allen would fall just shy of advancing to the national meet as the top 12 move on to Des Moines, Iowa.

Braxton Drummond also competed in the long jump, coming in 30th.  His first attempt measured 6.53-meters, while his second was recorded at 7.10-meters.  Drummond's final attempt measured 7.08 meters. 

Next up for the Bucs was Young, who entered the day seeded 24th in the 100-meter dash.  After the heat was called back due to a faulty block, Young went on to take third place in his heat with a time of 10.48.  He finished 26th overall and will run again tomorrow in the quarterfinals of the event, slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Young will also compete in the 200-meter dash first round, where he will be joined by teammates Rozzie Johnson and Cornelius Tyler.  The event is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Friday evening. 

Live results for the event can be found HERE.