Results

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore track and field squad hosted its final home event of the 2014-15 campaign, and the Hawks held the home floor by winning many races and coming a close second in others. Plenty of UMES athletes also set personal bests and one Hawk set a school record at the competition, which was not affected by team scoring.

It was an excellent all-around performance for the Lady Hawks who dominated on both the track and field sides. Freshman Royce Aiken (Wilmington, Del.) continues to improve as the season goes on, setting a personal best in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.70 seconds, winning the race. Fellow freshman Dypna Umunakwe (Bronx, N.Y.) also won her race and set a personal best with her 25.04 second time in the 200 meter dash. Umunakwe also won the 400 meter dash with a time of 58.23 seconds.

Three Lady Hawks completed a trifecta in the 800 meter run, with junior Jheniel Kelly (Edgewood, Md.) leading the charge with her time of 2:17.65. She was followed by senior Jasmine Sampson (Coatesville, Pa.) with a second place time of 2:20.53, and freshman Janice Lane (Carson, Calif.) took third with a 2:20.90 time, right behind Sampson.

Sophomore Barbora Blahutova (Slavkov, Czech Republic) won both the mile run and 3000 meter run with times of 5:14.14 and 10:53.00, respectively. Her time in the mile serves as a personal best as a collegian. Another personal best comes from another sophomore, Shelasia Leitch (Newark, N.J.), who won the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.87 seconds.

In addition to all the impressive finishes among the various races, the Hawks' relay squads went first and second, with the winning team recording a time of 4:09.59.

On the field side, Leitch racked up her second personal best after winning the long jump at a height of 5.74 meters. Another sophomore in Shauntel Lucius (Newark, N.J.) narrowly missed the school record, but still achieved a personal best in the triple jump with a distance of 11.90 meters. In the throws, four Hawks took the top four spots in the weight throw. Sophomore Alexis Dailey (Huntingtown, Md.) won the event with a toss of 14.59 meters. Dailey also finished best among Hawks in the shot put with a second place throw of 12.65 meters.

While the Lady Hawks delivered a complete performance from top to bottom, the men's team did not disappoint either, with many solid finishes of their own. They led off with sophomore Nicarge Arnold (Castries, St. Lucia), who set a new personal best in the 60 meter dash by winning the preliminaries with a time of 7.07 seconds. Arnold ultimately finished third in the finals. Fellow sophomore Michael Johnson (Ramstein AFB, Germany) also achieved a personal record with 22.44 second time in the 200 meter dash, while winning the 400 meter dash with a time of 50.06 seconds.

Freshman Stanley Meli (Eldoret, Kenya) shaved eight seconds of his PR time in the mile run with a time of 4:32.37, and sophomore Taj Showalter (Anchorage, Ak.) made the finals in the 60 meter hurdles, ultimately finishing second with a time of 8.26 seconds. UMES also won the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:26.63.

It was the field events, however, when the men's team made their mark. The Hawks ended up winning in four competitions, while taking second in the fifth and final event. The highlight of these belonged to sophomore Jared Kerr (Brampton, Ontario, Canada) who won the long jump in record fashion, setting a school record in that event with a height of 7.76 meters. With that achievement he becomes the third Hawk to take down a record this season, beating a mark set by Jason Daley in 2005.

Fellow sophomore Kevin Stanford (Salisbury, Md.) soared to new heights in the high jump with a jump of 1.96 meters, and a third sophomore, Naje Benton (Philadelphia, Pa.) finished second in the triple jump at a distance of 14.35 meters.

Senior Dillon Simon (Roseau, Dominica) won the shot put for a sixth time this year with an 18.97 meter throw, and another senior, Rico Duncan (Cheverly, Md.) won the weight throw with a toss of 16.50 meters.

The impressive day for the Hawks will hopefully serve as a stepping stone to the MEAC Championships, which will take place next week in Landover, Maryland.