BATON ROUGE, La. - Xavier thrower Mansur Ali, the reigning RRAC field athlete of the week, built on his big showing in last weekend's Southern Miss Invitational with an even stronger performance on Day 1 of the Pelican Relays. 

Ali earned gold in the hammer throw with a 52.71-meter throw, which ranks as the 27th-best throw in the NAIA and 6th-best among HBCUs this season and just 2 meters off NAIA national qualification standards. 

His teammates, Oluwatele Jegede, Pete Gandah, and John Orgah finished 8th, 9th, and 12th, respectively, in the hammer throw. Orgah also placed 11th in the javelin. 

The only running even in which XULA fielded competitors on Friday was the 200. Andrew Gillips was the best performer among four Xavier athletes with a ninth-place finish thanks to a 21.85 run. That time is within striking distance of the NAIA national standard of 21.13.