Thomas, Mealer Lead Lady Bears At Boston University
BOSTON, Mass. - The Morgan State women’s indoor track and field team took part in the BU John Thomas Invitational on Friday, hosted by Boston University and finished with eight top-10 finishes.
The Lady Bears were led by field event performers, Ajada Thomas and Ranita Mealer. Thomas placed second in the triple jump with a leap of 38-04.75, while Mealer, who was competing in the shot put, also took second with a throw of 48-04.00.
Weight thrower Samantha Clay also placed in the top-10, as she placed eighth with a throw of 50-02.75.
On the track Ekundayo Sogbesan ran a time of 55.53 to earn sixth-place in the 400 meter dash.
Jada Boyd came in sixth in the 3000 meter run with a time of 11:19.73, while Kiara Jelks placed eighth in the event in a time of 11:22.48.
The Lady Bears’ 4X400 meter relay team of Nicole Candelaria, Tere Cooley, Rowanna Watson and Ekundayo Sogbesan ran a time of 3:46.88 to help Morgan State to a sixth-place finish.
Morgan State will return to the track on Feb. 13-15 when the team travels to Manhattan, N.Y. to participate in the Armory Collegiate Invitational.
Bell, McCants Shine for Norfolk State at Hokie Invite
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Senior Champagne Bell took second place in the long jump to pace the Spartan women’s track and field team over the weekend at the Hokie Invitational hosted by Virginia Tech.
Bell jumped a season-best 18 feet, 9.75 inches to finish as runner-up. She was just 1.5 inches shy of winner Joann Blakney of Charlotte.
It was a productive weekend all the way around for Bell, who was also 12th in the 200 meters in a season-best time of 25.39 seconds. Bell was second in her heat. She also took 16th in the 300m and ran a leg on NSU’s 11th-place 4x400 relay team.
The Spartans’ top finisher on the track, though, was junior Brittney McCants. She earned fourth place in the 60 meters in a time of 7.65 seconds. McCants also placed 13th in the 200m (25.42).
Sophomore Adugna Desalegn fared the best among NSU’s distance runners, earning eighth place in the 5,000 meters (19:28.63). Teammates Rachel Webb and Fiona Masai were ninth and 10th, respectively.
In other field events, junior Tiara Davis was seventh in the unseeded section of the women’s pole vault. She matched her personal-best height of 10 feet, 6 inches. In addition, Desmonae Gray took 10th in the triple jump with a top leap of 38-0.25.
On the men’s side, Junior D’Sean Brown tied for seventh in the high jump to highlight the weekend efforts of the NSU men’s track and field team at the Hokie Invitational hosted by Virginia Tech.
Brown cleared a season-best height of 6 feet, 3.5 inches to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place and earn the only top-10 finish of the weekend for the Spartans.
Sophomore Chris Crawford had the other top finish for the NSU field athletes, coming in 14th in the long jump (20-4.25).
On the track, sophomore Steve Coles placed 15th in the 300 meters (35.93) and Marcus Anderson was 12th in the 60 hurdles (8.44).
The Spartans are off next weekend before closing their indoor season on Feb. 8 at the CNU Vince Brown Invitational.
Lady Pirates win eight at CNU Captain’s Invitational
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Hampton University women’s track & field team brought back a whopping eight event titles from the Christopher Newport Captain’s Invitational, which was held Friday and Saturday at the Freeman Center.
The men’s track & field team won an event and finished second in three others.
Senior Breana Norman continued her hot start to the indoor season, taking the title in the 60-meter dash with a 7.48 before helping the Lady Pirates 4x200-meter relay squad take gold with a time of 1:42.62.
Sophomore Tanisha Greene, freshman J’niyah Knox-Wilson, and senior Emmy Fraenk were also on that relay squad.
Senior Teiara Denmark also took home a pair of event titles, winning the triple jump with a season-best mark of 12.45 meters (40 feet, 10.25 inches) and taking the women’s pentathlon with 3,430 points – finishing in the top five in four of the five events (and winning the long jump portion).
Sophomore Ce’aira Brown took the 1,000-meter run with a season-best time of 2:51.17, while senior Cydney Robinson ran a season-best 5:11.11 to win the mile run. Senior Malekah Holland added to the distance dominance, running a 2:17.86 to take the 800-meter run.
Junior Le’Quisha Parker ran a season-best 56.42 to win the 400-meter dash.
The Pirates took home gold in the 4x200-meter relay, as sophomore Trey Holloway, junior Chidi Okezie, senior Je’Von Hutchison, and freshman Andrae Green teamed to run a 1:29.64.
Hutchison also came in second in the 800-meter run with a season-best time of 1:55.74.
Sophomore Emmanuel Price came in second in the men’s heptathlon, tallying 4,330 points and winning the long jump and 60-meter dash portions of the event.
Freshman Romin Geiger jumped 6.61 meters (21 feet, 8.25 inches) in the long jump, coming in second.
The Pirates and Lady Pirates will head to State College, Pa. on Friday and Saturday to compete in the Penn State National.
Stewart Leads Track and Field at BU John Thomas Terrier Invitational
BOSTON, Mass. -- It was yet another solid performance for Emmanuel Stewart as he led Morgan State track & field at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational hosted by Boston University.
Stewart captured first place in the weight throw with an IC4A qualifying toss of 18.82m. Jefferson Butler placed 11th place in the shot put with a 15.38m throw.
Christian Boateng recorded a time of 8.39 in the 60m hurdles and finished in 10th place. He also ran a 22.33 in the 200m dash.
The quartet of Haneef Hardy, accompanied by Evan Johnson, Joel Roberson ad Onyx Johnson placed 14th in the 4x400 relay and posted an IC4A qualifying time of 3:18.47. Johnson also placed 11th in the 800m.
Next up, the Bears head to Manhattan, N.Y. to compete at the Armory Collegiate Invitational (Feb. 13-15).