Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association issued the following announcement on Aug. 6
Former Livingstone track & field student athlete Quanera Hayes finishes her first-ever 400M Olympic finals appearance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The three-time CIAA and NCAA Outdoor 400M Track & Field champion is the first and only Blue Bear to compete and reach an Olympic final.
"We are so proud of the accomplishments that Quanera has made in her athletic career for Livingstone and for the country." says Livingstone Athletic Director Lamonte Massie-Sampson, "Her commitment to excellence as a former student-athlete and as a current Olympian defies the impossible of what Blue Bears can do."
Hayes finished 7th with a 50.88 run time. Her best seasonal finish was when she posted a 49.78 run on June 20 as the 400M US Olympic Trials champion ahead of fellow track mom and US teammate Allyson Felix. The Hope Mills, NC native has one more chance at gold on Saturday. She could contest as one of the four runners eligible to compete in the women's 4x400 relay.
"I am extremely proud of Quanera to be able to compete in the Olympic games in her first full Olympic year after becoming a mother," said Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach Justin Davis. " This effort speaks to a true testament of her God-given talents, her willpower, and exceptional work ethic. I wish her much success in the future and we hope and pray she will be called to compete in the 4x400 relay."
Quanera's collegiate accolades began in January 2012 at the Terrapin Indoor Invitational in Landover, MD. Although she finished 6th in the 400M, her performance helped the Blue Bears tie with D1 MEAC-member Howard University. Six days later she collected first place at the Niswonger Foundation Invitational clearing a 25.34 run-time in the 200M heat. The true-Freshmen would go on to compete in her first CIAA Indoor Track & Field Championship placing 4th in the 400M. Later that May, Hayes would finalize her freshmen year at the 2012 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships finishing in the top-five out of 18 runners on a 4800-foot elevation
Hayes returned to Livingstone in her sophomore year and posted more impressive results. In January, she captured her first 400M first-place finish at the Winston-Salem State Open and posted a 58.67 run time. At the NCAA DII Team Challenge the next month, Hayes captured another first-place win in the 400M (56.14) and finished second in the 200M. Hayes returned to her second CIAA Indoor Track and Field Championship and picked up a pair of second-place finishes in the 400M and 200M contest respectively. Five days later, she won the Virginia Tech Challenge in the 200M heat posting a 24.39 run time.
Hayes would continue on throughout the semester and would be set to become the 400M NCAA National Champion (51.54). By the end of her senior year, Hayes had won 14 first placements including her second and final collegiate competition as the 2015 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Champion. Hayes would graduate from Livingstone College in 2015 and go on to become the 2017 USATF Champion.
Original source can be found here.
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