Hampton track sends eight to NCAA Outdoors
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Hampton University men’s and women’s track & field teams will send a combined eight student-athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championships after a strong showing this past weekend in the NCAA East Preliminary hosted by the University of North Florida.
Six Pirates will be heading to Eugene, Ore., while the Lady Pirates will send two.
Sophomore Ce’aira Brown punched her ticket to Eugene in the 800-meter run, beating the school record in the event by nearly a second after turning in a 2:03.76 in the semifinals – recording the second-fastest time overall.
Junior Le’Quisha Parker qualified for NCAAs in the 200-meter dash after running a 23.46 in the semifinals – after turning in a 23.42 in the preliminary heats.
Parker was seventh overall in the 200-meter dash.
On the men’s side, the Pirates 4x400-meter relay squad set a new school record in qualifying for the NCAA Championships, turning in a 3:05.21 to break a record that had stood for 13 years. Hampton notched the 10th-fastest overall time in the heats.
Senior Je’Von Hutchison, junior Chidi Okezie, graduate student Paris Reddick-Simmons, and junior Edose Ibadin made up the relay squad.
Hutchison also qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 400-meter dash, running a season-best 45.71.
Sophomore Trey Holloway reached the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second straight season in the 110-meter hurdles, turning in a season-best 13.74 to post the eighth-fastest time in the semifinal round.
Senior Stefano Nardini continued his strong season, reaching NCAA qualification in the javelin throw with a ninth-place effort of 68.40 meters (224 feet, five inches).
Ibadin broke his own school record in the 800-meter run, turning in a 1:48.37 in the semifinals.
The 2014 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held June 11-14, hosted by the University of Oregon. The Lady Pirates have five Division I national champions in their history, while the Pirates are seeking their first.
For complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com
Coppin State's Epps earns trip to NCAA Championships with third-place effort in triple jump
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – This was another awesome moment in an impossibly brilliant senior season for Coppin State senior Christina Epps.
She knew she would deliver a wonderful performance when it mattered most. Epps turned up and accomplished all of her goals and then some by placing third overall in the triple jump with a personal best effort of 13.40 meters (43 feet, 11.75 inches) in the triple jump at the NCAA Division I East Regional Preliminary Championships at Hodges Stadium Saturday.
As one of the top 12 finishers in the triple jump, Epps earned an all-expense paid trip to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon from June 11-14. It’s a perfect ending to one of the best senior seasons that a Coppin State female student-athlete has ever enjoyed.
Epps’ effort Saturday featured more drama and suspense than an episode of “Scandal” as she waited until her final attempt to set her personal best mark and punch her ticket for the biggest meet of the NCAA season.
In her last two meets, including the ECAC/IC4A Championship meet at Princeton, which she won, Epps has established personal best efforts each time. She shattered her previous best mark of 13.12 meters.
The Coppin State men’s 4 x 400-meter relay team finished 23rd overall with a time of 3 minutes, 10.88 seconds.
For complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com
Evans earns 2nd qualification and Simon breaks record at NCAAs
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For three days, eight members of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) track team ran, jumped and threw for the chance to continue their season and in some cases their careers in the preliminary rounds of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships.
In the end, one of the Hawk was awarded the opportunity, as senior Gayon Evans earned qualification in both the 100 meter and 200 meter dash events. It wasn’t all bad from other Hawks though, as junior Dillon Simon reset his school record in the discus throw.
Evans was the lone Lady Hawk present at the event, but she excelled in both of her events. She qualified on Friday for the 100 meter dash quarterfinals after finishing 11th in a field of 24 qualifiers on Thursday. In order to qualify for the semifinals in Eugene, Gayon would need to finish in the top three of her heat or be one of three top times for the fourth thru sixth place finishers. A fourth place finish in Heat #2 almost kept her from moving on, but her season-best time of 11.49 seconds was good enough for an official finish of 12th place, giving Evans the final qualifying position.
The 200 meter dash event proved to be a somewhat easier feat for Evans. She breezed through the preliminary rounds with a time of 23.33 seconds, good for a fifth place finish and a quarterfinals lock. Although her time of 23.56 was slower in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Gayon still finished in ninth, well above the eligibility for line for the semifinals in Eugene.
Gayon will travel to Oregon for the semifinal round of June 11th where she will compete in the semifinal field of 24 runners for both races—12 from the East regional and 12 from the West, which was held in Arkansas this past weekend as well.
Simon narrowly missed the 12-person qualifying field with a 14th place in the discus throw, but he did manage to reset his own school record with a toss of 56.92 meters. His previous record was also set during the outdoor season with a 56.48 meter toss at the Morgan Legacy this past April. Dillon also competed in the shot put on Friday, where he finished 34th with a 17.28 meter toss.
Two relay teams also competed for the Hawks on Saturday. The all-senior team of Rico Taylor, Javon Spencer, Aaron Chatmon, and Ramone Waite took home 22nd in the 4x100 relay with a time of 40.56 seconds. Spencer, Waite, and Chatmon also ran in the 4x400 relay, along with freshman Orwell Maylor, finishing 24th with a time of 3:12.38.
For complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com
Mealer, McCammon End Collegiate Careers At NCAA East Preliminary
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The collegiate careers of senior Ranita Mealer and graduate student Jenea McCammon came to an end on Thursday, May 29 on the opening day of the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship East Preliminary at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida.
Mealer, who qualified for the preliminaries in the javelin throw, following her first-place mark of 148-8 during the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championships in early May, would finish 43rd with a throw of 138-1 at the East Preliminaries.
McCammon, who competed for MEAC foe North Carolina A&T during her undergraduate years, would finish 38th in the 400 meter hurdles on Thursday with a time of 1:00.42. Like Mealer, McCammon also captured gold during the MEAC Championships, following her first-place finish in the 400 hurdles with a mark of 59.27.
For complete story, visit www.morganstatebears.com
Lawrence Advances To Nationals
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Senior Desmond Lawrence succeeded in both of his events at the 2014 NCAA Division I East Outdoor Track and Field Preliminary Round at the University of North Florida. Lawrence will be going to Eugene, Ore., for the 100 meter dash and looks to add the 200 meters.
Lawrence ran a personal-best 10.22 in the regionals ranking him fifth going to the next round. He also qualified for the 200 semifinals running a personal-best 20.98.
As a result of qualifying for nationals, Lawrence is not in the conversation for becoming the next All-American from A&T. If Lawrence finishes top-8 nationally he will join Brandon Via (triple jump), Evertett Bruce (triple jump), Timothy Walls (4x1), Sean White (4x1), Titus Haywood (4x1), Gerald Wright (4x1), Theo Wilds (100), Loreal Smith (hurdles), Alexandria Spruill (400 meters) and Shakia Forbes (long jump) as A&T All-Americans. Forbes was a second-team selection.
Senior Darryl Williams placed 16th in the 100 running a personal-best 10.37. “I am very proud of Darryl as well. He ran another personal best and just missing the big dance. I very well expect him to be there though as a part of the 4x100 meter relay,” said Ross.
Freshman Joshua Peoples placed 39th in the preliminaries running 21.67.