University of North Carolina Athletics
July 17, 2000 | Track & Field
July 17, 2000
Former University of North Carolina track and women's basketball star Marion Jones has qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games by winning both the 100 meters and the long jump at the 2000 United States Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif. Jones will attempt later this week to qualify for the U.S. Team in the 200 meters and could also compete in Australia in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
Jones won the long jump competition Sunday with a leap of 23 feet, half an inch, her best jump in a year. Saturday, Jones won the 100 meters in 10.88 seconds. Jones is one of three former Tar Heel athletes to have qualified for the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team.
Curtis Johnson, who ran at Carolina from 1994-96, finished second to world-recordholder Maurice Greene in the 100 meters. That second-place finish put Johnson on the Olympic Team. Johnson anchored the Tar Heels' NCAA champion 4x100 relay in 1996 and earned individual All-America honors as he placed fifth at the 1996 NCAA Indoor Championships in the 55 meters. The Palmetto, Fla., native won an ACC championship as a member of the 4x100 relay in 1995. Johnson has previous international experience. In 1992, he was a member of the United States' silver-medal winning 4x100 relay at the Junior World Championships in Seoul, South Korea.
LaTasha Colander-Richardson, a four-time ACC Championship Meet MVP, also earned a spot on the Olympic Team by winning the 400 meters in a personal best time of 49.87 seconds. Colander-Richardson, a native of Portsmouth, Va., won 12 individual ACC titles and was a part of two ACC champion relays as a Tar Heel from 1995-98. She never won the 400 meters in NCAA or ACC competition, but is the best female hurdler in Carolina history. She won the 55 or 100 hurdles six times at ACC Championships and won the 200 meters on three occasions. She was the ACC Indoor MVP in 1995, 1997 and 1998 and the ACC Outdoor Meet MVP in 1997.
