April 1, 2008

Complete Results

RALEIGH, N.C / DOVER, Del. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Track & Field teams split up this past weekend with part of the team attending the Hornet Invitational in Dover, Del. and the other part of the team traveling to the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C. Splitting the squad appears to have been the right move as athletes were successful at both meets.

At the Raleigh Relays the women ran well with Celia Whyte taking second place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:11.43. The event was dominated by the Lady Hawks as Merrecia James was right behind her, posting a 2:11.87 to finish third.

Danai Lendor also posted a top ten finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a 1:02.58 to finish tenth. Sherie Brown also was solid with a time of 57.24 in the 400-meter run to cross the line 20th. In team competition the 4x400 meter relay team showed the dominance they started showing in the indoor season with a first place post of 3:43.71.

In the field events Saisha Woodward threw well to take an 11th place finish in the shot put with a throw of 13.22 meters.

On the men's side in Raleigh Allodin Fothergill won the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.45 and Peter Sang also posted a top ten finish, taking seventh in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:20.17. Amon Kiprotich was just shy of a top ten of his own, taking 13th in the same event with a time of 10:17.87.

UMES dominated the 400-meter dash on the men's side. Out of well more than 100 runners the Hawks took five of those spots, including 18th with Paul Jones-Burden (47.92), 30th with Corey Alexander (48.91), 42nd with Dexter Miller (49.48) and 68th and 96th with William McCullough and Thomas Keane-Dawes respectively.

Also running well was Clayton James who took 31st in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:08.93.

Like the women the men also won the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:16.66.

About seven hours north of Raleigh the other part of the Hawks were competing at Delaware State University.

The Hawks showed well in the field events. In the women's shot put UMES took five of the top 15 spots with Joycelyn Wheeler (11.82 meters), Soledad Maurice (11.71 meters), Tiona Long (11.50 meters), Demetria Staten and Cori Otey taking fifth, sixth, eighth, 11th and 14th place respectively. In the discus throw the women again were solid five of the top 15 spots. Long (35.73 meters), Wheeler (34.75 meters), Maurice (34.30 meters), Staten and Rashida Beckford took fifth, sixth, seventh, 12th and 13th.

The men dominated the discus taking first and second with Jamahl Strachan and Anthony Tolliver posting throws of 26.85 meters and 18.50 meters. Strachan also was first in the pole vault with a jump of 3.99 meters.

In the javelin Wheeler (21.07 meters), Maurice and Staten took sixth, ninth and 10th. In the long jump, James Moore was ninth for the men with a leap of 6.47 meters. Moore then took an impressive second place in the triple jump with a distance of 14.12 meters. Moore picked up a lot of points for the Hawks as he also took second in the high jump with a leap of 1.93 meters.

On the track Thacious Freeman was solid, posting a fourth place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.60 and a fifth place in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.8. Also for the men, was Solomon Kirongo, who was second in the 5000-meter run with a time of 16:24.91 and ninth in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:29.73.

Tiffany Webb also took a top ten with her tenth place in the women's 800-meter run with a time of 2:59.18. Webb was also 13th in the 1500-meter run with a time 6:23.15.

Also posting top 15 showings were Otey in the 100-meter hurdles for the women (13th) and Tolliver and Moore (13th and 14th respectively) in the 100-meter dash.

Overall the men were fifth and the women sixth, not bad for a partial squad.

UMES will look to build on these impressive performances this coming weekend when they travel to Texas for the Clyde Littlefield Relays.