For the second straight season, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff finished track and field season with a medal.
UAPB sprinter Jordan Pierre finished third in the men’s 400-meter dash finals on Friday at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Pierre circled the track in 45.75 seconds. He was the fourth runner to cross the finish line and initially appeared to have just missed the podium.
After a review, South Florida senior Gabriel Moronta, who had crossed the line second, was disqualified for stepping over his lane line more than once. That moved USC junior William Jones into second place, opening a spot in the top three for Pierre.
Pierre beat Texas Tech junior DeSean Boyce by 0.03 seconds. The Golden Lion also beat runners from Duke, Arizona State, Texas A&M and UCLA. Alabama sophomore Samuel Ogazi cruised to a national championship with a 44.84-second run.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
This top-three finish came after Pierre squeezed his way into the finals as the last runner to qualify during Wednesday’s preliminaries. Although he ran 0.31 seconds slower than the personal best he ran on Wednesday, his late push from lane one was enough on Friday.
Pierre’s bronze medal finish comes a year after then-UAPB high jumper Caleb Snowden won bronze at last year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships in his second trip to the event. This was Pierre’s first.
With Friday’s performance, Pierre will be a First Team All-American. The UAPB 4×100-meter relay team earned Second Team honors on Wednesday despite not qualifying for Friday’s finals.