NCAA Track & Field Championships ? 200 Meters Results (PDF)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ? Portland State senior sprinter Jernise Saunders came in 22nd out of 30 competitors in the 200 meter prelims on Thursday evening at the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships.

Saunders season and career came to an end after she failed to reach the semifinals. The top three finishers in each of the five heats, as well as the next best three times, advanced onto the the semis.

Despite not moving on, Saunders still excelled on Thursday after entering the competition with the 30th-best time out of the 30 sprinters. She came in fifth out of six runners in Heat 5, and her time of 24.15 ranked 22nd amongst the entire field.

Saunders placed higher than three other conference champions, including Big East 200-meter champ Trisha Anne Hawthorne of Connecticut, Atlantic-10 champion Lamarra Currie of Charlotte, and Big South champion Ikeiylah Brown of Coastal Carolina.

The NCAA Outdoor Championships wraps up an outstanding career for Saunders at PSU. She is the only Portland State sprinter to ever compete at the national meet, and she holds the PSU record in the 200 meters with a time of 23.77 set at the NCAA West Regional in Eugene on May 30. Additionally, Saunders' time of 11.69 seconds at the NCAA West Regional set a new PSU standard.

A native of Nassau, Bahamas, Saunders took first in both the 100 and 200 meters at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in mid-May. This came after she won the 60 and 200 meters at the BSC Indoor Championships in late February.