Patton's Silver Medal Highlights TCU's Olympic Efforts
8/29/2004 12:00:00 AM
Aug. 29, 2004
Darvis "Doc" Patton brought home a silver medal as a member of the United States' 4x100 meter relay team, highlighting the efforts of former Horned Frogs at the Summer Olympics, completed today in Athens, Greece. Patton, who completed his collegiate eligibility at TCU in 2001, ran the second leg on the U.S. sprint relay team in the semifinal round, helping the quartet to a winning time of 38.02 seconds. In the finals, the U.S. team struggled with its handoffs and finished in a time of 38.08, falling just short of the gold medal behind Great Britain. Brandon Simpson, who ran for TCU in 2003, finished fifth in the 400 meter dash while competing for Jamaica. Simpson improved in every round, logging times of 45.61 in the first round, 44.97 in the semifinals and 44.76 seconds in the finals. A pair of former TCU runners were impressive in the 100 meter dash. Like Simpson, 2003 World Champion Kim Collins improved his time in each round. He stopped the clock in 10.11 seconds in the first round, ran a 10.05 in the second round, broke the tape in 10.02 seconds in the semifinals, then ran a season-best 10.00 in the finals to finish sixth. Collins, who ran for St. Kitts, competed at TCU during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Michael Frater, who ran for TCU over the past four years, posted a time of 10.20 in round one, 10.11 in round two and 10.29 in the semifinals to place 14th overall. Frater, who was running for his home country of Jamaica at the Olympics, placed second at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held in Austin in June. Former TCU standout and NCAA champion at 800 meters, Khadevis Robinson, was not able to get out of the first round after logging a time of 1:46.14. Robinson, who is a Fort Worth native and attended high school at Trimble Tech, had the fastest time of those not advancing and actually posted a faster time than seven runners that did advance to the seimfinals. On the women's side, former TCU sprint standout Beverly McDonald reached the semifinal round of the 200 meter dash. Competing for Jamaica, McDonald broke the tape in 22.90 in the first round, 22.99 in round two and 23.02 in the semis to place 13th overall.
