LANDOVER, Md. - On the brief first day of the MEAC Indoor Championships, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore track & field team stormed out of the gate, predominately making their stand in the 5000 meter run.

One Lady Hawk, sophomore Barbora Blahutova (Slavkov, Czech Republic), set the pace for the women's team. She brought home a third place finish in the 5000, finishing with a time of 18:14.95 and earning six points for the Lady Hawks.

It was the men, however, who saw excellent results in the men's 5000. Five of the six Hawks who ran the race earned points for their squad, and as the case has been all season long, it was sophomore Khalil Rmidi Kinini (Malaga, Spain) who led the charge. He won the event with a time of 15:29.46 and was awarded ten points for his effort. Fellow Spain native and UMES freshman Oussama Chouati (Manresa, Spain) took third place with a time of 15:30.77. Three more Hawks-freshmen Stanley Meli and Nelson Kimutai (Eldoret, Kenya) and sophomore Nassor Whitehead (Sunrise, Fla.)-finished in sixth thru eighth place, in that order.

The men's team earned 22 points in the 5000 meter run alone. In addition to the team's effort in the distance race, sophomore Jared Kerr (Brampton, Ontario, Canada) tallied 7.57 meters in the long jump, finishing second and earning another eight points. All together, the men's team registered 30 points, which places them first in the conference after day one.

While the women have only six points, they are by no measure out of the running, as they are just eight points behind the leader, Florida A&M.

Competition resume tomorrow morning at nine. Tickets will be five dollars and available for purchase at the door.