KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (April 10, 2009) - A contingent of Buccaneer sprinters made the short trip over to Knoxville on Friday afternoon to compete at the 2009 Sea Relays and the ETSU student-athletes flourished in their respective events on the Tom Black Track inside LaPorte Stadium.

Before heavy rains and severe weather hit the Northeast Tennessee region on Friday, senior Judy Johnson (Knoxville), junior Duronal Monal (Belle Glade, Fla.) and sophomore Mike James (Palm Bay, Fla.) all turned exceptional performances on the track.

"I was really pleased with the efforts our sprinters provided today," commented associate head track and field coach Michelle Byrne. "They all ran very solid races and it's a good sign to their training pay off."

Johnson, who was making her visit back to her hometown, won her section with ease and finished ninth overall in the 100m. The Knoxville native finished with a season-best time of 11.84 in the event.

On the men's side, James made some noise in the 110-meter hurdles and Monal continued to turn in dominating performances in the 100m.

Like Johnson, James won his section in the hurdles and finished 10^th overall after turning in a lifetime best of 14.52. James' previous top time was set last May when he ran 14.66 at the Liberty Relays.

Rounding out the day was Monal's impressive showing in the 100m. The junior sprinter finished second in his section and seventh overall after clocking a wind-aided time of 10.49, which also would have been a regional qualifying mark if it was a legal time.

The Buccaneer track and field team will return to action on Saturday when the majority of their athletes compete at the Furman Invitational; however, Monal, James, Terrence Maxwell (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Jeremy Ford (Knoxville) will compete at the Sea Relays.

For more information on Buccaneer track and field, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.