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Feb. 15, 2007 PRINCESS ANNE, MD - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) men's and women's indoor track and field teams will look for a strong outing at this weekend's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championships. The Championships will be on Feb. 16-17 at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex in Landover, Md. The Lady Hawks will try to dethrone Hampton, who will look to capture its fifth consecutive MEAC indoor title. The Fighting Hawks will go up against defending champion Norfolk State on the men's side. NSU will vie for its second straight title and fourth overall. Alfred Singoei owns the top conference times in the mile run and the 5000m run and will look to improve from a third and fourth place finish, respectively, in those same events at last year's championship. Clayton James has the second highest MEAC time in the 800m run and is another medal contender, while seniors Ronnie Beard and Dwayne Robinson will try to claim top honors in the 60m hurdles. Beard took third at the 2006 MEAC Championship while Robinson edged his teammate for runner-up honors. Thrower Kimani Kirton returns after red shirting last season and is a strong contender in the shot put. Kirton threw 18.72 meters (61-05.00 feet) at the Bucknell meet on Jan. 27, a throw ranked him seventh in the NCAA standings at the time. It also put him first in the conference this season. In other field events, Jason Daley, Jamahal Strachan and James Moore will look to place in their respective events. Daley owns the fourth highest conference leap in the long jump (7.05 meters or 23-1.00 feet) while Strachan's first-place leap in the high jump (1.98m or 6-06.00 feet) at Akron rankes fifth highest in the MEAC. Moore jumped the same distance at the Coach O Invite and is tied for fifth in the conference standings with Strachan. On the women's side, Tanisha Wisdom will look to place in the 200m and 400m run. She has the second highest MEAC time in both events after running 24.71 in the 200 and 55.03 in the 400 earlier this season. Merrecia James owns three top five conference times and trails teammate Betty Chumbe for first in the 3000m run. James' first place finish in the mile run at Akron (5:09.61) ranks second highest in the MEAC while her 2:17.42 outing in the 800m run at the same meet is fifth highest. Chumbe and Janeth Chelangat are also medal contenders in the distance events. Dionne Wright won the shot put at last year's championship and will look to reclaim her title. The senior from Manchester, Jamaica threw 14.51 meters (47-07.25 feet) at the Bucknell meet and owns the top MEAC throw this season. Friday's action will feature the men's heptathlon, women's shot put, women's long jump, and women's high jump. Opening ceremonies will commence at 1:30 p.m. followed by the 800m, 60m hurdles, 400m dash and men's pole vault. The remainder of the day will highlight the 60m dash, men's long jump, 200m dash, and the distance medley races. The final day of competition will begin at 9 a.m. with the women's pole vault and women's pentathlon. The remaining field events include the men's shot put and triple jump events. The championship will also feature the mile run, 400m dash, 60m hurdles, 200m dash, and the women's 3000m and men's 5000m run. The championship will conclude with the men and women's 4x400m relay races.
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