Charles Gets Two Top-10 Times in LR History at ASU

Meet Results
Dual Results

JONESBORO – Anika Charles put herself in the Trojan record books in two different events and nearly got a victory in the 55-meter dash, highlighting Little Rock's participation at the A-State Invitational at the Convocation Center on Friday and Saturday.

Over the weekend, Little Rock had seven top-five finishes and posted five top-10 times in program history.
 
Charles started her impressive weekend in the 200 on Friday night, taking second place in a time of 25.06 seconds. In the process, Charles posted the fifth-fastest time in Trojan history in the event.
 
Also in the 200, Christina Nickerson was 21st in 26.48 seconds, Brittney Anderson was 24th in 26.56 seconds and Brittany Pinder-Jones was 34th in 27.18 seconds.
 
The next day in the 55-meter dash, Charles again put herself in the Trojan record book, running 7.21 seconds in the preliminary round to move up to fifth all-time in team history. That put her in second place in the prelims and qualified her for the finals.
 
In those finals, Charles just missed out on the event victory, running the race in a virtual tie with Grambling's Ja'lyn Simon. Simon crossed the finish line in 7.103 seconds, and Charles was five thousandths of a second slower in 7.108 seconds. Charles' new best time of 7.11 seconds, though, moved her up to fourth all-time in Trojan history in the event.
 
Competing in the 55 prelims as well as Brittney Anderson who came in 16th in 7.47 seconds, Christina Nickerson who came in 24th in 7.61 seconds, Nicole Edison who placed 32nd in 7.90 seconds and Brittany Pinder-Jones who took 33rd in 7.95 seconds.
 
The Trojans closed the meet with a second-place finish in the 4x400 relay on Saturday. Jasmine Blunt, Akeia Joyner, Tyler Kelly and Jessica Gray combined for a time of 3:58.11, putting themselves only behind Arkansas State in the conclusion to the weekend's events.
 
In the 5K on Friday, Adela Hernandez had another second-place finish for the Trojans with a time of 18:48.25. Hunter Paul was right behind her in third place, finishing in 19:17.40.
 
Saturday afternoon, Bless Dupeh finished fourth for the Trojans in the 400, racing over the finish in 57.38 seconds, moving her up to fifth all-time in program history in the event. Widline Lageroy was 11th in 1:00.00, and Eboni Smith took 12th in 1:00.06.
 
In the 800, Blunt took fifth place in 2:28.72 while Joyner was close behind her in sixth in 2:32.81.
 
Nicole Edison got Saturday's session started in the 55-meter hurdles, racing 15th in a time of 9.39 seconds.
 
In the mile, Kelly took sixth place with a time of 5:31.94 and Hernandez was just behind her in 5:33.51. Paul crossed the finish line 13th in 5:45.92.
 
On Friday night, two Trojans took part in the long jump. Nicole Edison finished 14th with a distance of 17' 2", a mark she reached on her first jump of the evening. Tyra Gillam came in 18th in the event with a distance of 16' 7 3/4" which she reached on her second attempt in the event. Both are personal indoor collegiate bests and improve their sixth- and seventh-best distances in program history.
 
In the triple jump the next day, Gillam placed 14th with a distance of 31' 6" which she achieved on her final jump of the day.
 
Little Rock returns to action next Sunday with the Jaguar Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. The event will be hosted by South Alabama at the Birmingham Crossplex.