Bryan Steele Advances to NCAA East Regional Final in the 400-Meter Hurdles

5/27/05 -- Junior Bryan Steele (Gaithersburg, Md.) clinched a berth in the final of the 400-meter hurdles for Long Island at the NCAA East Regional Championships in New York.

Steele, the 400-meter hurdles champion this year in both the Northeast Conference and the IC4A, raced 51.15 seconds to win his heat. He posted the sixth-best time overall in the preliminaries.

Competing at the East Regionals in this event a third straight year, Steele on Saturday will try to advance to the NCAA Championships. After his race that begins at approximately 6:07 pm, his final time will be compared with those in the three other regional finals to see who will compete in Sacramento, Calif. from June 8-11.

The men's 400-meter relay squad ran in 40.59 seconds, missing a spot in the final by 0.16 seconds. The team was comprised of seniors Antonio Thomas (Baltimore, Md.), Shaun Johnson (Ontario, Canada) and Jeremy Bascom (Brooklyn, N.Y.) along with junior Michael Hillian (Voorhees, N.J.).

Hillian -- named the NEC's Most Outstanding Men's Outdoor Track Performer -- ran 47.50 in the 400-meter dash to close third in his heat, but did not advance. Johnson ran the 100-meter dash in 10.58 seconds.

Freshman Aisha Thomas (Jefferson City, Mo.) finished the 100-meter dash in 11.97 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 24.48 seconds. This concludes a month in which she was tabbed Most Valuable Performer, Most Outstanding Track Performer and Rookie of the Meet at the NEC Outdoor Championships.

Senior N'Kelle Anderson (Forestville, Md.) ran the 400-meter hurdles in 1:03.42.

In addition to Steele, the men's 1,600-meter relay team also will compete in a final on Saturday that starts at approximately 7:45 pm. Their championship does not have a preliminary race.

Tickets for Saturday's meet on Randall's Island may be purchased at ticketweb.com by searching under venue for "Icahn Stadium." Tickets are $15 for adults and $7 for students. (directions)