Western Kentucky’s Tay Sears (Northside) qualifies for 4x100 finals at NCAA Championships

Western Kentucky’s Tay Sears (Northside High) was part of a 4x100-meter relay team that advanced to the finals at the NCAA Championships on Wednesday.

Kyree King, Emmanuel Dasor, Julius Morris and Sears set a new school record with a time of 38.85 seconds in the semifinals at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. All four earned All-America honors by qualifying for the finals.

Sears was part of the quartet that set the previous record at 39.18. That was in the 2014 national semifinals.

The finals are set for Friday night at 8:30. It will be televised on ESPN.

“I’m very proud of this group,” Western Kentucky coach Erik Jenkins said in a news release. “They have competed at a very high level today, and we look forward to the opportunity to compete again on Friday.”

This is the third straight year that Sears, a junior, has competed in the NCAA Championships.

Last year, he finished eighth in the long jump and the 4x100 team he was on finished 11th.

As a freshman, he was on 4x100 and 4x400 teams that both posted top-five finishes in the NCAA Championships.

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Western Kentucky’s Tay Sears (Northside) qualifies for 4x100 finals at NCAA Championships."