GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The NSU 4x400 meter relay team of Keith Nkrumah, James Taylor, Kenneth Smith and # Sean Holston# blazed to its fastest time of the season and a fifth place finish in the loaded Florida Relays on Saturday afternoon.

The Spartans' quartet won its heat in a time of 3 minutes, 6.87 seconds. The team placed second among collegiate teams, trailing only the University of Georgia (3:06.08) in a field which included a number of professional athletes and teams.  NSU topped teams from George Mason, St. Augustine's, Ole Miss, Florida State and Clemson in its heat.

That was just one in a number of standout performances over the weekend by Spartan men. In his first competition of the year for NSU, senior Rashad Cannon placed second overall in the university section of the long jump. His best leap went 24 feet, 3.75 inches.

Nkrumah, Taylor and Holston also had success in their individual events in addition to their strong relay showing. Nkrumah placed X in the 110 hurdles in a time of 13.94 seconds. Taylor smashed his previous personal-best time in the 200 meters, clocking a time of 20.78 seconds to place 15th. And Holston, running his first 400 meter dash of outdoor season, finished ninth in 46.62 seconds.

In distance events, first-year sophomores Damtew Adnew and Nathnael Meseret both posted personal-best times. Adnew finished 11th in the 5,000 meters in 14:57.95, and Meseret was 26th in the 1,500 in 3:55.38.

Junior Vincent Brown also got in on the PR-setting action. He ran an 800m time of 1:52.23 in a 21st-place finish, his second straight week breaking his personal-best in that event.

In field competition, John James tied for 10th place with a best jump of 6-8.75.

The Spartans are back in action next weekend when they host the NSU Collegiate Relays on April 14 at Dick Price Stadium.