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Feb. 18, 2007
LANDOVER, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Men and Women's Indoor Track & Field Teams both improved from their third place standings after day one to take the runner-up place for both teams. The men accumulated 110 points trailing champion Norfolk State's 133 points. The women tallied 95.50 points and were just behind Hampton University who is currently ranked in the top 15 in the nation. Hampton had 179 points. Tallying all those points for the Hawks was a team effort, one that resulted in 19 medals, or top three finishes, with six coming in the form of gold. The Lady Hawks saw freshmen sensation Merecia James dominate in her events, claiming three titles all to herself. She won the one mile run (5:05.85), the 800 meter run (2:10.57) and the 3000 meter run (10:20.73). She didn't just win the 800 meter run; she set a new Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), shattering the previous time of 2:11.86, held by Diana Pitts of Coppin State from 1991. James tallied 36 points on her own, earning 30 for the three first places and six for a third place finish in the 4 x 400 meter relay with teammates Tanisha Wisdom, Danieth Pryce and Sherie Brown. Yvette Lewis of Hampton earned the Women's Outstanding Preformer award for the second straight year. She tallies 53.5 points with wins in the triple jump, long jump, 200 meter run and 60 meter run. Also capturing gold for the Hawks was Jason Daley who outjumped the competition in the long jump with a distance of 7.31 meters (23-11.75 feet). Fellow field star Kimani Kirton threw the shot put 17.92 meters (58-09.50 feet) to claim his gold medal. Kirton broke a MEAC record of his own. The previous record was 17.52 meters held by Florida A & M's Jomo Cousins in 1997 and Hampton's Rodney Johnson in 2000.
Alfred Singoei also took gold, blistering the track with a time of 15:5.94 in the 5000 meter run, over two seconds ahead of his closest competitor. Other medal winners included Pryce, who took third in the 60 meter dash (7.60) and the bronze in the 200 meter dash (24.55). Wisdom took fourth in the 200 meter dash a well, scoring points for her Lady Hawks. Wisdom then got in the medals in the 400 meter dash, taking the silver with a time of 55.93. Betty Chumbe, the Hawks cross-country wiz took home the bronze to James' gold in the 3000 meter run (10:22.05). Janeth Chelangat took fifth in that race (10:35.14). Chumbe also took tenth in 800 meter run and seventh in the one mile run. Chelangat was also sixth in the mile run. The Lady Hawks' distance medley team also took the silver, giving them another eight points. In the field events the women picked up points from Melanie Durimel in the pole vault. Durimel, a standout on the volleyball court was tied for fifth and picked up 3.5 points. Dionne Wright took the silver in the shot put with a throw of 13.95 meters. She was upset for the gold by Morgan State's Leitawsha Bronson. On the men's side of the field events, Ronnie Beard took fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 14.44 meters and Brandon Eaton was eighth picking up a point with a jump of 14.21 meters. Eaton was also eighth in the long jump to Daley's gold, picking up another point for the men. In the men's pole vault Jamahl Strachan was sixth, picking up another three points. Strachan was also fourth in the high jump. In that same event UMES took the silver with James Moore jumping 2.01 meters, the same height as the gold medal winner with a judge breaking the tie to keep the Hawks out of gold. On the track the men were dominant as well. The distance medley team took fourth and the 4 x 400 meter relay team of Beard, Clayton James, Christopher Dawkins and William McCullough took the silver, missing gold by just over a second. Beard was all over the track, taking silver in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.02. Dwayne Robinson also scored in the hurdles with a fourth place finish. Beard also came home sixth in the 200 meter dash. Peter Sang took the bronze in the 5000 meter run following Singoei's gold medal performance while Dawkins was fifth in the 400 meter dash (49.51). James scored individually for the Hawks as well coming home fifth in the 800 meter run. Singoei and James were silver and bronze in the one mile run with times of 4:23.63 and 4:23.84 respectively. "We had a lot of outstanding performances," said Head Coach Ernest Barrett. "Some athletes stepped up that I didn't know would. They have a lot of talent and have trained incredibly hard. I am so proud. I would love to have won a title with one of these teams, but for both to finish second in a highly competitive conference like the MEAC is amazing. It's great." The Spartans of Norfolk State recorded 133 points to earn its second consecutive MEAC title and fourth overall. Maryland Eastern Shore (110), Hampton (64) Morgan State (61) and Delaware State (51) rounded out the top five. On the women's side The Lady Pirates earned 51 points on day one and finished with 179 points to win their fifth consecutive title. Hampton set a new MEAC Indoor Championship record with their 179 point performance, topping their own mark of 168 points at last year's championships. Maryland Eastern Shore (95.50), Morgan State (72) Norfolk State (52) and Delaware State (42) completed the top five. |
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