Lott Dashes to Historic Fourth Place Finish in 800-Meter Finals

BRADENTON, Fla. – Coker College women's track and field member Darroneshia Lott dashed to a historic fourth place finish in the 800-meter finals at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday (May 27) evening at IMG Academy. Lott posted a personal best time of 2:07.40 and shattered her previous Coker track & field 800-meter record of 2:07.90. Her fourth place finish earned her First Team All-American honors, making her the first Coker track & field student-athlete to earn such an honor.

Carsyn Koch from Cedarville won the 800-meter with a time of 2:05.21, followed by Rachael Walters (Grand Valley St., 2:06.72) and Olivia Woods (Western Oregon, 2:07.38).

Heading into this weekend's championships, Lott posted the sixth fasted time in the 800-meter. "On paper I was ranked sixth and I finished fourth," said Lott. "Finishing above my ranking is an accomplishment to me. I moved myself up and I can only improve from here."

Yesterday, Lott battled in her preliminary race and finished with a time of 2:07.90 to advance to today's finals. In fact, Lott stated she was challenged mentally and physically throughout this weekend's championships when she stated, " I battled hard mentally and physically these past couple of days. Next season, I need to make sure I'm not only physically strong, but mentally strong as well."

Lott, a junior from Pensacola, Florida, is willing to learn from her first experience of competing on the national stage and plans to use those lessons to improve for next season. "This was truly a learning experience," stated Lott. "With that being said, I'm willing to do whatever it takes next season in order to bring a national title back home."