Two from SEU Qualify for Nationals in 2019 Indoor Track Debut

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The full Fire track team had a solid debut at the Emory Crossplex Invitational on Sunday.
The SEU women scored 14 points to finish 14th of 24 and the men scored 12 points to finish 16th of 22.
Freshman Phenom Julia Rohm picked up where she left off in cross country season, placing second in the 5000 meter run in a time of 18:15.5, which will qualify her for NAIA Nationals. Rohm ran most of the race alone, leading Troy University’s Caroline Sall by six seconds at the line, and trailing by nearly three-quarters of a minute to winner Lauren Penkala of Flagler.
Davonte Vanterpool made history by becoming the first person to qualify for NAIA Nationals on the men’s side by winning the 60 meter hurdles in a time of 8.31. Vanterpool got to the finish line four hundredths of a second ahead of Troy’s Julian Martin-Rogers to get 10 points for Southeastern.
Kyle Manuel picked up the remaining two points in the shot put with a seventh-place finish with a toss of 14 meters, or almost 46 feet. Giovanni Allen was ninth with a mark of 13.28 meters.
Jordan Gonzalez was ninth in the 800 with a time of 1:59.29.
Namiah Simpson helped the women score with a seventh-place finish in the 400 Meter Dash in 59.01 and was part of the 4×400 Meter Relay team which finished seventh in 4:04.29, narrowly missing out on the qualifying standard.
The two teams return to action on Saturday at the Webber International Warrior Invitational in Frostproof.
Men’s Placers
60 Meter Hurdles- Davonte Vanterpool- 1st- 8.31q
Shot put- Kyle Manuel- 7th- 14m
Women’s Placers
5000 Meter Run- Julia Rohm- 2nd- 18:15.5q
4×400 Meter Relay (Courtney Gales, Ashley Higgs, Jenycha Rivera, Simpson)- 7th- 4:04.29
400 Meter Dash- Namiah Simpson- 7th- 59.01