PRINCETON, N.J. – Although there were few chances to score points on Saturday, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore track team capitalized in the qualifiers. The efforts set up opportunities to score points at the IC4A/ECAC in the Sunday finale, while giving many Hawks a chance to improve times in an attempt to continue their seasons.
Sophomore Shelasia Leitch advanced to the 100 meter hurdle finals with a pair of excellent showings. In the preliminaries Leitch placed 14th with a time of 14.30 seconds to move on to the semifinals. She followed that with a time of 14.08 seconds to place 8th in the semis, earning a spot in the finals. The second year hurdler already holds the school record with a time of 13.88 seconds.
Leitch was the only Lady Hawk to qualify for an individual final, but freshman Dypna Umunakwe did advance to a semifinal in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.17 seconds, finishing 15th. She would finish the next round in 16th place.
A pair of Lady Hawk relay teams will continue on to their respective finals as well. The 4x400 team of sophomore Rachel Halmon, Umunakwe, freshman Loundy Desire and senior Shantol Hemley took third place with a time of 3:41.83 to advance to the finals. That time was the best for the 4x400 team this year and was just two seconds off a school record. In the 4x800, a quartet of seniors Margret Wilmot-Francis, Jasmine Sampson, freshman Janice Lane and junior Jheniel Kelly qualified for a final with a time of 8:55.02, good for fifth place.
On the men’s side, sophomore Khalil Rmidi Kinini was the only Hawk to advance to a final in a race, finishing tenth in the 1500 meter run with a 2015 best time of 3:47.39. Rmidi Kinini has already made a mark at the meet with a school record time in the 3000 meter steeplechase.
Fellow sophomore Taj Showalter was unable to beat his seasonal high of 14.30 meters in the 110 meter hurdles, but his time of 14.71 seconds did allow a qualification to the semifinals with a 10th place finish. Showalter ultimately finished in 14th the following round.
The third and final day of the IC4A/ECAC Championship will begin tomorrow at 9:00 in the morning.