Pitt
ACC Outdoor Championships
Desmond Palmer Crowned ACC Champion in 400 Meter Hurdles
5/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Complete Results | Photo Gallery
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- In a thrilling race which saw sophomore Desmond Palmer hold off three North Carolina athletes, Palmer outlasted the Tar Heels in a career-best time of 49.41 to win the 400 meter hurdle title at the 2015 ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championship Meet.
"It feels amazing to see all my hard work pay off," Palmer said. "I have had a couple of bad races over the past few weeks, but I was able to put it together tonight. I am just blessed. I wanted to run the back-stretch fast and finish as hard as I could. The UNC guy beat me to the last hurdle but I was able to get him right at the line."
Palmer, who had the nation's fourth fastest time entering tonight's race, showed why he is a true national title contender as he held off UNC's Kenny Selmon (49.60), Javonte Lipsey (49.65) and RJ Alowonle (50.02) in what proved to be a photo finish.
ALSO IN THE 400 METER HURDLES:
Palmer was not the only Panther who had a standout race in the 400 hurdles. On the women's side, Evann Thompson also earned First Team All-ACC accolades as she placed second overall in a season-best time of 57.33. Thompson reached the NCAA National Championship Meet a season ago in that event and looks poised to do the same this season as the Panthers head to the East Regional in two weeks.
Dustin Fuller placed sixth in the men's 400 meter hurdles in 53.30 to earn Second Team All-ACC.
4x400 METER RELAYS:
The men's team of Palmer, Christopher Tate, Donnell Taylor and Brylan Slay had an outstanding race and placed third overall to earn Second Team All-ACC accolades. The Panthers battled with UNC and Clemson the entire way and finished the race with a season-best time of 3:07.35.
The women's team of Dominque Watkins, Khadeja Kearney, Laila Ismail and Evann Thompson put together a huge season best time of 3:39.04 as they won their heat and placed sixth overall. Watkins got the Panthers off to great start and they never looked back. Kearney and Ismail then gave Thompson a cushion in the anchor leg and she held serve as the Panthers won the heat by two seconds.
100 AND 110 HURDLES:
Junior Khadeja Kearney placed eighth in the women's 100 meter hurdles in a time of 14.08, which was followed by Palmer placing sixth in the 110 meter hurdles and earning Second Team All-ACC honors with a time of 14.11.
MEN'S JAVELIN:
In the first event of the day, the men's javelin, sophomore Ethan Shalaway saved his best throw for last and earned his way onto the podium with a third place finish.
Shalaway's opening throw of the day went 64.27m, which placed him seventh in prelims and moved him into the finals. In the finals, Shalaway fouled on his first attempt, threw 62.14m on his second attempt, and then erupted with a 67.91m on his third and final attempt which catapulted him into second place.
Shalaway would slip to third as Duke's Thomas Lang went 70.62m on his final throw which was the winning mark and it pushed Shalaway down one spot. Shalaway garnered First Team All-ACC honors with his third place finish and earned six team points for the Panthers.
MEN'S TRIPLE JUMP:
Junior Imani Brown earned two points for the Panthers with a seventh place finish, jumping 15.14m. Brown earned three additional jumps by qualifying for the nine person final with a distance of 14.92m in prelims, and then notched his furthest distance on his fifth jump to claim seventh.
MEN'S DISCUS:
Senior Andrew Wells followed up his stellar performance in the hammer on Thursday with another strong performance in the discus on Saturday, once again taking seventh place. Wells made the finals of the discus by throwing a 53.75m on his second attempt of the day, and then landed his top throw of 54.19m on his fourth attempt of the afternoon.
TEAM SCORES:
The men's team finished tied for ninth overall with Notre Dame as both teams scored 37 points. The women's finished 13th with 21 total points.
ALL-ACC PERFORMERS:
First Team All-ACC:
Taylor Slaney -- Javelin
Ethan Shalaway -- Javelin
Evann Thompson -- 400MH
Desmond Palmer -- 400MH
Second Team All-ACC:
Brooke Shasteen -- Javelin
Luke Gallaher -- Decathlon
Desmond Palmer -- 110 Meter Hurdles
Dustin Fuller -- 400 Meter Hurdles
Men's 4x4 -- Palmer, Tate, Taylor, Slay
UP NEXT:
The Panthers now turn their attention to the NCAA East Regional Meet in Jacksonville, Fla., in two weeks as they try to qualify for the NCAA National Championship Meet in Eugene, Oregon (June 10-13).
