Ealum helps Liberty 4×400 relay team punch ticket to NCAAs
Tanner Ealum (center)
Anchorage’s Tanner Ealum has again made history at Liberty University.
For the third time in the last month the junior sprinter helped the women’s 4×400-meter relay team set a school record, this time at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Florida.
And this time it helped the squad punch its ticket to the big dance.
The Lady Flames’ relay team of Ealum, Ty’Asia Dansbury, Delaney McDowell and Cortney Dowling raced to a time of 3:33.20, slashing 2.57 seconds off their previous school record set two weeks earlier on the same track at the ASUN Championships.
This will be first women’s 4×400-meter relay team from Liberty to qualify for the final stage of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which this year take place June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.
However, Liberty’s national berth was not guaranteed until Dowling overtook LSU’s anchor during the final straightaway for third place in the heat. Liberty finished with the eighth fastest time overall between the 4×400 heats.
Ealum, of ACS fame, just missed qualifying last year.
This year her 54.4-second opening leg sent Liberty on its way, and she was followed up by personal-best splits from Dansbury (51.4), McDowell (54.82) and Dowling (52.57).