July 7, 2008

WINDSOR, Ont. - Jonathan Reid, a rising junior on Wake Forest's men's track and field team, ran a 47.2 Saturday in the 400-meter final of the Canadian Track and Field Championships. However, the country decided to not send the 4x400 meter relay team to Beijing in favor of the 4x100 relay team.

The Windsor, Ontario-native posted a 47.6 in the preliminary heat before his home crowd to finish third and qualify for the final.

Reid had an impressive sophomore season in 2008 as he won the 400m at the Yellow Jacket Invitational with a time of 47.22, and in the finals of the 400-meter dash at the 2008 ACC Outdoor Championships, Reid qualified for the NCAA Regionals with a time of 47.18, taking sixth place in the event.

Last summer, Reid recorded a career-best 46.95 to win the 400-meter dash at the Canadian Junior Track and Field Championships.

Reid was part of Wake's 4x400m relay team that took honors at the Clemson Invitational with a time of 3:17.06.

Reid would have been the second track athlete with Demon Deacon connections to qualify for the 2008 Olympics. Hunter Kemper, a 1998 graduate of Wake Forest, qualified to run the triathlon for Team USA and will be competing in his third Olympic Games.

Wake's Michael Bingham will attempt to qualify for the 400-meter dash at the UK Olympic Trials July 11-13 in Birmingham, England.

The 2008 Olympics will be held August 8-24 in Beijing, China. Coverage will be provided by a host of NBC networks, including NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, and USA Network.

-WakeForestSports.com-