Holmes Punches 800m Ticket to NCAA Semifinals

Donte’ Holmes (Hyattsville, Md.) continues to excel as his collegiate track and field career winds down as the Delaware State University senior qualified individually Friday for the first time in his career for the NCAA Championships with his seventh-place performance during the 2012 NCAA East Regional’s 800m quarterfinals at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium.

Holmes recorded a season-best time of 1:48.33 in Friday evening’s race, good for second in his heat and seventh overall.  He finished third in Thursday’s preliminary race with a time of 1:48.89 to qualify for tonight’s quarterfinals.  Holmes previously competed in the 2010 East Preliminaries in the 800m, but failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

The trackster will compete on Wednesday, June 6 at 6:15 p.m. in the 800m semifinals in Des Moines, Iowa at Drake Stadium.

Holmes will join juniors Ryan Carter (Wilmington, Del.), Tyquan Brown (Neptune, N.J.) and Tariq Devore (Queens, N.Y.) in Saturday’s 4×400 relay as the Hornets seek their fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.  DSU is seeded 10th for the East Preliminary Round and will compete in tomorrow’s Quarterfinals at 9:25 p.m.