Bethune-Cookman Opens Indoor Track Season with Solid Performances in South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Wildcats track & field squad opened the 2014 indoor season on a strong note, despite a limited traveling squad, notching 11 top-three finishes at the South Carolina Indoor Open #1 meet, Saturday at the University of South Carolina Indoor Complex.
A pair of freshmen on the men’s side put their names on the map, earning first place in their respective events in their first collegiate competition, both in the field events. Kenneth Fisher topped the field in the long jump with a distance of 7.25m (23-09.50 ft.), while Ed’Ricus Williams led the high jump with a mark of 2.03m (6-08.00 ft.).
Joining Fisher in the top tier of the long jump event were fellow newcomers Nicholas Williams in fourth (6.82m - 22-04.50 ft.) and Demetrius Rooks in fifth (6.80m - 22-03.75 ft.), while upperclassmen Keron Stoute (6.52m - 21-04.75 ft.) and La’Quan Howard (6.49m - 21-03.50 ft.) came in eighth and ninth, respectively. Stoute also finished second in the high jump, just two inches shy of Williams at 1.98m (6-06.00 ft.), ahead of newcomer Terrell Campbell at 1.88m (6-02.00 ft.).
For the women, Deidra Jordan led the Wildcats in the LJ, hitting a mark of 5.38m (17-08.00 ft.) for fourth, followed by Rayanna Johnson (sixth, 5.07m - 16-07.75 ft.), Kasie Trigg (seventh, 4.85m - 15-11.00 ft.) and Cenita Sanders (eighth, 4.71m - 15-05.50 ft.).
Topping the women’s squad, Desiree Richardson finished first with a personal record in the weight throw of 13.79m (45-03.00 ft.), while also claiming second in the shot put with a throw of 13.64m (44-09.00 ft.). On the men’s side of the throws, Barry Kimbrough threw 13.99m (45-10.75 ft.) for third in the shot put.
Juliette Hyppolite hit a mark of 1.57m (5-01.75 ft.) in the women’s high jump to earn second, while Rayanna Johnson was third at 1.52m (4-11.75 ft.), and transfer newcomer Trigg was fourth at 1.52m (4-11.75 ft.).
Marking the highest performance of the day in the sprints, sophomore Tristie Johnson tied South Carolina’s Vashti Bandy for third in the 55m dash with a time of 7.10, matching her preliminary ranking. Breonca Reid (7.17) and Shalaneya Bryant (7.31) joined Johnson in the final, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively. For the men, Angelo Cabrera (6.55) and Derrick Higdon were eighth and ninth in the 55m.
Rayanna Johnson topped the hurdlers in the 55m hurdles, coming in sixth in the final with a time of 8.73, ahead of Jordan in seventh at 8.92. Stoute (8.39) and Curtis Riggins (9.04) finished eighth and ninth respectively, in the men’s hurdles.
Riggins also notched a third-place finish in the men’s pole vault with a height of 3.95m (12-11.50 ft.), while freshman Keyoshia Harris was eighth in the women’s pole vault at 2.30m (7-06.50 ft.).
“It was a great opportunity to gauge if what we did in the fall stuck with the team over the holiday break,” Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Donald Cooper said. “We had many of the athletes take advantage of opportunity to compete today. The staff did an outstanding job in preparing our athletes and we had a lot of good performances.”
“We still have a lot of work to do in order to be competitive with the rest of the conference teams which are off to great starts this season,” Cooper added.
The Wildcats return to action next Friday (Jan. 17) in Gainesville, Fla., competing in the Jimmy Carnes Invitational.
Aggies Start The New Year On A Mission
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Two meets in and sophomore Nakita Gray doesn’t know what defeat feels like. Gray, the North Carolina A&T women’s track and field high jumper, had another strong performance to go along with another good showing from the A&T track and field teams at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem.
Sophomore Nakita Gray is on a roll early. Gray is not only undefeated but on Saturday she won the high jump with a personal-record mark of 5-feet, 9-inches.
Junior Kendrick Smith got first in the men’s triple jump by leaping 15.27 meters. His brother Keenan Smith wasn’t far behind him with a third place finish at 15.10 meters. Both of these jumps were also their personal best jumps for the season.
Freshman Frank Quarles finished second behind former Aggie track athlete Tarrish Alexander in the men’s long jump with a personal best jump of 7.11 meters. Keenan Smith placed third behind Quarles with another personal best of 7.06 meters.
Junior Christian Harrison got second place in the men’s 800 meters with a time of 1:54.60. Junior Dyronne Mabry got third behind Harrison running a personal-best 1:54.63. Harrison and Mabry are ranked 1,2 in the conference in the 800.
Unattached runner Jessica Farr got second in both the women’s 200 (24.30) and 400 meters (56.27). Darryl Williams, another unattached runner, ran 6.76 in the men’s 60-meter dash for a third-place finish.
Desmond Lawrence made his season debut in the men’s 60 with a fourth-place finish in 6.82, which leads the MEAC.
Omozopkia Olumese is third in the MEAC as he jumped a personal-best 13-feet, 1 ½ inches in the men’s pole vault.
The men’s 4x400 meter A-relay team earned third place with a time of 3:17.93.
The Aggies had a few male athletes make their season debuts on Saturday. In addition to Lawrence, Caleb Gabriel also competed after a season of playing on the Aggies football team.
The Aggies next meet will be Friday, January 17 at the Dick Taylor Invitational in Chapel Hill.
SSU Opens Indoor Track & Field Season
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The men’s and women’s Savannah State indoor track and field teams opened the 2014 season at the annual Wake Forest Invitational on January 11 with several top finishes and strong performances from returners and newcomers.
For the Tigers, junior Cameron Hall placed third in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 7.99 after qualifying in the preliminaries with an 8.01.
Sophomore Kenshard Hamilton finished in sixth place in the 200 meter dash with a 6.84. In the 200 meter dash newcomer Justin Leggett finished in 13th with a 22.60. Running the 400 meter dash, newcomer Antuwan Poole placed 14th with a 51.13, followed by returner Lemaar Shakir, who finished in 15th with a 51.25.
In the 800 meter run, Kristopher Ballou ran a 1:57.37 for an eighth placed finish. Freshman Micah Richards ran a 5:06.23 in the one mile run, finishing in 19th place.
In the 4x400 relay, the SSU team of Poole, Brandon Davis, DeAndre Pearsons and Shakir ran a 3:25.01 for a seventh place finish. The ‘B’ squad of Ballou, Hall, Leggett and Randy Thomas placed 13th with a 3:39.74.
Junior transfer Timothy Jackson placed 12th in the pole vault with a distance of 4.15 meters (13’ 7.25”). In the weight throw, Derrick Akins finished 10th with a throw of 12.65m (41’6”).
For the Lady Tigers, junior Asia Stinson finished in fourth place in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.63. In the 200 meter dash, Jazy Seay-Blane placed eighth with a time of 25.54 and registered a third place finish in the 400 meter dash with a time of 56.51.
SSU newcomer Michaela McGhee ran a 2:25.64 in the 800 meter dash for an 11th place finish.
In the 4x400 meter relay the SSU team of Kortney Grey, Aluntrea Davis, McGhee and Jade Bentley placed 14th with a time of 4:18.91.
In the field, Jaymi White recorded a fifth place finish in the long jump with a distance of 5.52m (18’1.5”). Grey finished in seventh in the same event with a jump of 5.42m (17’9.5”). Rajeanne Jarrett had a distance of 11.64m (38’2.25”) for a fourth place finish in the triple jump.
Pirates second at Navy, Lady Pirates strong at George Mason
ANNAPOLIS, Md. & FAIRFAX, Va. – The Hampton University men’s track & field team finished second in the Navy Quad Meet on Saturday, while the women’s track & field team had a strong showing at the Father Diamond Invitational hosted by George Mason.
The Lady Pirates won five events in the Father Diamond.
Senior Breana Norman took home a pair of event titles on Saturday, taking the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.54 and the 60-meter dash with a 7.54. Norman qualified for the ECAC Championships in both events.
Senior Emmy Fraenk ran a 57.82 to win the 400-meter dash, and she was part of the Lady Pirates’ 4x400-meter relay team – along with sophomore Ce’aira Brown, senior Malekah Holland, and sophomore Tanisha Greene – that came in second with a time of 3:47.42.
That time was good enough for ECAC qualification.
Holland and Brown also took gold in the 4x800-meter relay – along with seniors Cydney Robinson and Ashley Armand – with an ECAC-qualifying time of 9:19.21. Brown also reached ECAC qualification in the 500-meter run with a 1:14.47 to finish second.
Holland was third with a 1:15.82, also reaching ECAC qualification.
Junior Shalanda Grier won the triple jump with a mark of 10.90 meters (35 feet, 9.25 inches).
In Annapolis, the Pirates tallied 88 points to finish second in the team standings, while the host U.S. Naval Academy won the team title with 290 points. The Pirates won four event titles on Saturday.
Junior Chidi Okezie took home the title in the 200-meter dash with an IC4A-qualifying time of 21.89, while also taking gold in the 4x400-meter relay – along with junior Mohamed Labor-Koroma, sophomore Torri Tillman, and freshman Andrae Green – with a 3:17.31.
That time was also good enough for IC4A qualification.
Senior Je’Von Hutchison ran a 47.94 in the 400-meter dash, taking the event title and qualifying for the IC4A Championships. That time is currently the seventh-fastest in the nation.
Freshman Christoffe Scott took home his first collegiate event title in winning the 60-meter hurdles, after turning in an 8.32.
The Pirates and Lady Pirates will host the Hampton University Invitational on Saturday at the Boo Williams SportsPlex.
UMES’ Kerr and Simon both earn high marks in their events
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - While the track side of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) had their hands full with the U.S. Naval Academy team and other colleges at the Navy Invitational last Saturday, the field side brought home a few victories plus a new school record.
The track side did bring some strong finishes-senior Aaron Chatman (Waldorf, Md.) finished third in the men's 400 meter dash with a time of 48.80 seconds and the men's relay team of freshman Jared Kerr, junior Hakeem Harris (Wilmington, Del.), senior Kraig Webb (Elizabeth, N.J.) and Chatman finished second in the 4x400 meter relay, just milliseconds behind Hampton's relay team. However, it was the field participants that racked up the most top finishes.
In addition to Kerr's finish in the relay, Jared had two first place finishes in the long jump and triple jump. In the long jump, Kerr registered a distance of 7.02 meters, his second top finish in the event this year. His distance in the triple jump topped at 14.65 meters, the best by any UMES track athlete this season. Freshman Naje Benton finished third in the long jump as well at a distance of 6.66 meters, and junior Devin Wynn took third in the triple jump with a distance of 13.62 meters.
Once again, sophomore Dillon Simon posted a strong finish in the meet. Though he finished second in the weight throw for the first time in three meets, Simon still beat his own school record, throwing for a distance of 17.92 meters. Dillon had previously set the record twice before this year with distances of 17.28 meters and 16.71 meters. He is now 1.4 meters ahead of the previous record holder, Marcus Simon, who threw for 16.52 meters in 2010.
In team scores, the Naval Academy won big with 290 points, but UMES took third with 66 total points, forty points ahead of fourth place Mount St. Mary's. The indoor track teams will travel to New York City to participate in the Great Dane Classic this coming Friday.
Thompson leads Bears at Father Diamond Meet
FAIRFAX, Va. - The Morgan State men's indoor track and field team kicked off the New Year competing at the Father Diamond Meet on Saturday held at the George Mason Recreation Sports Complex on the campus of George Mason University.
The Bears finished with 14 top 10 places, including four top five finishes.
The Bears were led by standout Nigel Thompson. Thompson captured the long jump with a leap of 7.30m, while teammate Christopher Thompson turned in a 6th place performance at 6.66m.
Christian Boateng finished as runner-up in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.22, behind Howard's Wallace Spencer (8.08).
Other track highlights include Brandon Hairston who not only placed fourth in the 400m dash (51.03), but he also posted a 6th place finish in the 200m dash (22.54) in front of teammate Rolando Reid (22.76)
Evan Johnson (1:06.67) and Joel Roberson (1:07.59) placed fifth and seventh place in the 500m dash, respectively.
The 4x400m relay team consisting of Akinbinu Olumide, Ahmad Abram, Recardo Griggs and Thompson took seventh place with a time of 3:28.97.
Morgan State is back in action January 17th when they compete in the Great Dane Classic in Manhattan, New York.
Hornet Women shine at New York City Gotham Cup
Dover, Del. --- Second place performances in the 1000-meter run and 4x800-meter relay highlighted the Delaware State University women’s indoor track & field team’s sixth place standing at the New York City Gotham Cup last week.
The Hornets collected 58 total points in the meet, which featured 13 collegiate teams.
Maria Gwengi tallied 10 points for her third place finish in the shot put. Gwengi had a top throw of 12.42 meters (40-09.00 feet). She was also eighth in the weight throw (12.65m).
Ketsia Dornevil picked up eight points for the Hornets with a second place finish in the 1000-meter run. Dornevil completed the course in a time of two-minutes-58.72 seconds.
She was also a member of the Hornets’ runner-up 4x80-meter relay team, joining Ashley Robinson, Omealia Gordon and Brianna Sims for a time of 10:13.91 and right team points.
DSU’s distance medley relay team of Djnab Williams, Ke’Shaun Davis, Shalaya Sidney and Anaya Reed collected five points after finishing eighth with a time of 14:54.14.
Delaware State’s Janae Wilson earned five points for the Hornets with a sixth place finish in the long jump (5.32m), while Sidney collected four points after placing eighth in the event (5.21m).
The Hornets also gained three points for a 10th place showing in the 4x400 meter relay. Sade Lewis, Rayanna Relerford, Shi’erra Hilliard and Chalsea Clark posted a time of 4:05.61 in the race.