Thrower Vanessa Henry began her indoor track and field junior season Friday at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Coach O Invitational the same way she ended her sophomore year - by breaking school records.

Last season, Henry broke the school's shot put record with a throw of 15.02m at the MEAC Championship in her last meet of the indoor season.  Today, in the first meet of the 2011 indoor season, Henry broke that mark with a first-place throw of 15.09m.

Three other Lady Hawk throwers also finished in the top ten of the shot put with sophomore Courtney Gray in third (10.90m), freshman Bianca Pete in fifth (10.16m) and sophomore Imani Cox in seventh (9.89m).

Henry also placed first in the women's weight throw with a throw of 15.81m.  Cox finished fourth with a distance of 13.01m while Pete was eighth with a distance of 11.19m.

In the men's throws, sophomore Marcus Brown finished first in the weight throw with a distance of 15.71m and second in the shot put with a distance of 15.42m.

Rounding out the field event first-place finishes include sophomore Chelsea Lowe with a height of 2.73m in the pole vault and sophomore Rico Taylor with a height of 1.98m in the high jump.

Senior Alexandra Berry tied for second in the pole vault with a height of 2.43m while Gray finished second in the triple jump with a distance of 11.30m.  Freshman Denvil Ruan placed second in both the long jump (6.86m) and triple jump (14.38m).

In the women's track events, UMES took first in three events in addition to the 4x400 relay and distance medley relay.  Sophomore Jennell Wade recorded a time of 26.11 in the 200m while fellow sophomore Emilie Ducados a 2:17.44 in the 800m.  Junior Cynthia Anais finished the mile run in a time of 5:11.77.

The women's 4x400 "A" squad finished first with a time of 4:04.00 while the distance medley squad finished first with a time of 12:12.93.

The Hawk men also finished first in three events and the 4x400 relay and distance medley relay.   Freshman Marcus Wallace ran the 200m in a time of 22.26 while sophomore Andre Walsh finished the 400m in a time of 50.02.  Sophomore Basil Melek finished the 3000m in 8:52.51.

The UMES men's 4x400 "A" squad ran a time of 3:25.65 while the distance medley team ran a 10:41.68.

For the complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com