BIRMINGHAM, Ala.  – Clocking in with a time of 3:44.58, the San Francisco State 4x400 relay team garnered All-American Honors, taking sixth at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at the Birmingham Crossplex. 
 
"It was a phenomenal effort by our women, they set a precedent for our program," said head track and field coach Kendra Reimer.  "The women fought off the competition, they dug deep to make this All-American performance happen.  Our team is young and all these women are returning for indoor next year.  I'm really excited about our future in the sprints."
 
The quartet of Vanessa Koontz, Atiya Harvey, Christine Moreno, and Timarya Baynard become the first track athletes to earn All-American honors since the 4x100 relay team in the 2014 Outdoor Championships.  The top-eight finishers in the event earn All-American. 
 
The Gators took second in the third heat, just behind heat winner Merrimack who took fourth overall with a time of 3:44.40. 
 
Koontz ran the opening let for the Gators and finished with a time of 57.34, faster than her personal-best time of 58.29 in the 400m set at the UW Invitational earlier this year. 
 
Harvey ran the second leg and ran a split of 55.71. At the 800 meter mark the Gators team time was 1:52.85, the ninth fastest time among the 13 teams racing. 
 
Up next was Moreno who ran a split of 57.49, her fastest time in the 400 by almost a full two seconds.
 
That Gators finished off the race with Baynard, who ran a blistering fast split of 54.26, faster than the school-record time of 55.40 at the 400m prelims on Friday. 
 
The NCAA Champion went to Johnson C. Smith who finished with a time of 3:42.05, in second was Grand Valley State with time of 3:42.50, followed by Lincoln (3:43.78), Merrimack (3:44.40), Southwest Baptist (3:44.42), SF State, Alaska Anchorage (3:45.10) and Southern Connecticut State (3:45.11).
 
The Gators will resume their outdoor schedule on Friday when they travel to Sacramento to participate in the Hornet Heptathlon and Hornet Invitational hosted by Sacramento State.