MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College freshman Jayshon Irvin (Vero Beach, Fla./Sebastian) was put through the emotional ringer Friday (May 22) at the second day of action in the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Marietta, Ohio.

"When we were checking in and warming up at the (Dyson Baudo Recreation Center) I was having fun and I was real loose," Irvin said. "But on the bus ride over and we made it to the track I started getting real nervous. However, when it was time to race I had calmed down."

While Irvin didn't turn in his best time, his 10.88 seconds in the 100-meters was the eighth-best time in the trials. So Irvin qualifies for Saturday's finals at 2:30 p.m. and is on his way to earning All-America status.

Now it's just a question of how much he can improve his standing. His best run of the season is 10.71, which would put him in third place when comparing it to Friday's other times.

"He ran strong today," said Marietta assistant coach Brent Wilkerson. "The worst part of his race was the blocks. He'll have to work on that. He sits in the blocks a little too long because he's afraid to false start. Now he gets to run all out and see where he finishes."

Irvin agrees he didn't run his best race Friday.

"It feels great to be in the finals. I ran a good race, but not my best. However, it did help being at home. I feed off the energy of the crowd," he said.

The Florida native also believes the high temperatures—reaching the mid-80s—gives him an advantage. "It feels like I'm back home running on the beaches."

Also in the 100 final are Salisbury (Md.) University senior Delannie Spriggs (10.67), Springfield (Mass.) College junior Stephen Headley (10.68), Methodist (N.C.) University senior Tazz Petty (10.75), Buena Vista (Iowa) University senior Eric Bertelsen (10.78), George Fox (Ore.) University junior Dak Kongela (10.79), Moravian (Pa.) College sophomore Eric Woodruff (10.83) and Methodist (N.C.) University senior Michael Hill (10.85).

"Jayshon is a hard worker. His biggest strength is his consistency. There's not a lot of weeks that he has run poorly," Wilkerson said. "A lot of credit for his improvement this year has to go to the football team. They have an excellent strength program under Coach Jeff Filkovski and Coach Drew Moore. He just needed some added strength."

Also competing for Marietta on Saturday is sophomore Zach Gay (Elyria/Oberlin) in the High Jump at 11:30 a.m. After provisionally qualifying for the event with a mark of 6-07.50 at the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Gold Meet on March 28, Gay jumped up to a tie for 10th on the provisional list when he cleared 6-08.75 at the Gregory Invitational on May 15.

To follow Marietta's athletes or any event in the championship go to: http://pioneers.marietta.edu/track/09championships/