Dec. 13, 2008
Complete Results
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - It was a solid opening meet for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore who hosted the Lid-Lifter meet on December 12, 2008. It was the first meet of any kind for the Hawk track & field program who is fresh off a solid cross-country season seeing the women repeat at conference champions and the men take the runner-up crown.
UMES picked up where they left off, setting three school records along the way and dominating a small meet on their home track. A major off-season move for the squad was the addition of assistant coach Javier Olivas who has already made strides with many of the throwers and the results showed immediately.
Saisha Woodward was one of the stars of the day, working under Olivas' tutelage she posted two school records, one in the weight throw with a toss of 13.72 (45.01 feet) meters and the other in the shot put with a distance of 14.79 (48.52 feet) meters. Her throw in the shot put shattered the previous school record set almost two years ago of 14.58 meters by Dionne Wright.
Not far behind Woodward was Joycelyn Wheeler who took third in the weight throw and shot put with tosses of 13.29 (43.60 feet) meters and 14.31 (46.95 feet) meters respectively. Both marks were personal bests by Wheeler.
"Coach Olivas has been outstanding with our throwers," said Head Coach Ernest Barrett. "A big time thrower who was at such a high caliber program, Javier has really taught the throwers well."
Also in the field events was the Lady Hawks' Alexandra Berry who won the women's pole vault with a leap of 2.14 (7.02 feet) meters and Jamahl Strachan who took the event on the men's side with a leap of 3.51 (11.51 feet) meters, winning by a judges decision.
In the long jump Charles Elmer took second with a bound of 7.31 (23.98 feet) meters while Jermol Dix also posted a top ten finish, placing sixth with a jump of 6.71 (22.01 feet) meters. In the trip jump James Moore was fourth with a leap of 13.46 (44.16 feet) meters and then turned around to take third on a judge's decision with a jump of 1.98 (6.5 feet) meters in the high jump.
On the track, Dix continued his busy day, placing third in the preliminaries of the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.52 before finishing in the same spot in the finals with a faster time of 8.48.
With the hurdles down, the rest of the Hawk runners could hit the flat track. Olympian Allodin Fothergill seems to set school records each time he steps on the track and this day was no different as he posted a school best 6.83 second time in the 60-meter dash. He tied for second in the finals with a professional runner and fell behind a blistering effort from Hampton's Reggie Dixon. Fothergill ran the third fastest time in the preliminaries with a 6.89.
In the women's version of the dash Monique Hawkins took sixth in the opening round with a 7.92 and then finished fifth in the finals of the event.
Having dominated the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's cross-country season for several years now, UMES expects its distance runners to shine indoors. They didn't disappoint.
Celia Whyte easily won the one mile run in a time of 5:24.76, besting the next finisher by over five seconds. Teammate Merrecia James won the 800-meter run in a time of 2:15.72 while Cynthia Anais and Eunice Jones took third and fourth respectively with times of 2:19.35 and 2:20.92.
In the women's 3000-meter run Tamica Thomas cruised to a win in 11:03.51, topping the next finisher by nine seconds. Tiffany Webb and Jessica Abrantes took third and fifth in the event, securing the Lady Hawk's dominant role in distance running.
On the shorter track Hawkins took second in the 200-meter run with a time of 25.59 and Amaris James was ninth with a time of 27.56. Danai Lendor won the 500-meter run in a time of 1:17.26.
The men's distance runners were not to be outdone. Amon Kiprotich and Peter Sang cruised to first and second place respectively in the 3000-meter run with times of 9:06.42 and 9:12.03. Solomon Kirongo also took fourth in the run with a time of 9:37.41.
In the 800-meter run Shadrack Maritim was fifth with a time of 2:06.20 and Paul Jones-Burden took fourth in the 500-meter run with a time of 1:07.37. Julian Gomez-Jordan took seventh in that event as well, securing a top ten finish.
In the slightly shorter run, the 400-meter dash, Thomas Keane-Dawes was third with a posting of 51.56 while Damian Miles was fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.37.
In the team events, the women ran to a second place finish in the 4x400 meter relay as the team of Anais, Hawkins, James and Jones posted a 3:56.80. The men one upped the ladies as the won their 4x400 relay with Dix, Fothergill, Jones-Burden and Keane-Dawes posting a time of 3:26.25. A second UMES team took fifth as Jonathan Brown, Elmer, Miles and Moore posted a 3:36 flat.
"It was a well run meet," said Barrett. "Our coaching staff and administration worked well to get everything together and operating smoothly. We would have liked to have more teams but those that came provided some solid competition for us and it gave us a good understanding of where we are as a team heading into winter break."
The meet did not have team scoring but featured athletes from Coppin State, Hampton, Virginia State, University of the District of Columbia (UDC), Wesley College, Salisbury University, Voorhees College and several unattached runners and track clubs. UMES will next be in action January 9, 2009 when they host the UMES Coach O Collegiate Invite in the William P. Hytche Athletic Center.
