April 25, 2016 Results (Morgan Legacy) l Results (Virginia Challenge)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia and BALTIMORE, Maryland - The Maryland Eastern Shore track & field team splitting up between two separate meets did not tip the balance in scale of one or the other. Rather, the team as a whole enjoyed successes at both events, with a select group racing to new heights at the Virginia Challenge while others found different variations of success at the Morgan Legacy in Baltimore.
In Charlottesville, the Hawks competed against tougher athletes, but that didn't stop their resolve. Seven players set new collegiate bests while an eighth placed in the top five at his event. A trio of Lady Hawks-freshman Alicia Colson (Upper Marlboro, Maryland), sophomore Dypna Umunakwe (Bronx, New York) and freshman Luan Gabriel (Roseau, Dominica)-all achieved theirs in the 400. Colson ran the event at 56.05 seconds, followed by Umunakwe at 56.16 seconds and Gabriel at 57.52 seconds. Junior Rachel Halmon (Waldorf, Maryland) reached new heights in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:10.93.
On the men's side, junior Mark Blackmon (Charlotte, North Carolina) ran the 5000 meter at a clip of 15:14.73 and freshman Jordan Leon (Baltimore, Maryland) competed in his second 10k this season, earning a time of 32:49.24. Along with a time of 8:59.74 by sophomore Oussama Chouati (Manresa, Spain) in the 3000 meter steeplechase, the trio set new top collegiate times for themselves.
Junior Naje Benton (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) didn't set a new collegiate mark but his distance of 7.47 meters in the long jump was good enough for a fourth place finish.
In addition to all the new collegiate bests, the women's 4x400 relay team of Halmon, Colson, freshman Lenneisha Gilbert (Miami, Florida) and Umunakwe recorded the best time for the Lady Hawks this season in the relays, finishing at 3:44.38, taking ninth place.
Meanwhile in Baltimore plenty of other Hawks made their presence known.
The Hawk throwers had the best day of all. Sophomore Regyn Davis-Young (Lanham, Maryland), fresh off setting three new top collegiate marks last weekend, proved she wasn't finished by topping two of them. Her distance of 13.63 meter not only became a new top mark, but it gave her a runner-up finish and earned her qualification to the IC4A/ECAC Championships in May. Davis-Young also set a new collegiate mark in the hammer throw with a distance of 36.88 meters.
Three other Lady Hawks set new collegiate marks in the hammer as well. Senior Donisha Porter (Aberdeen, Maryland) registered a throw of 39.64 meters to place ninth in the event. Sophomore Nicovia Carter (Upper Marlboro, Maryland) and freshman Talyah Winston (New Brunswick, New Jersey) also put up top marks with Carter's throw of 35.49 meters and Winston's throw of 26.26 meters.
Carter also provided a throw of 37.38 meters in the discus for a collegiate best and a 7th place finish going along with a 5th place showing in the shot put. Porter was right behind Carter in the shot put, coming in sixth.
The men's throwers were also impressive. Senior Rico Duncan (Cheverly, Maryland) took the runner up spot in the hammer throw with a new college mark of 46.30 meters. That went with a 10th place finish in the shot put.
Rico Duncan was just one
of many throwers who
enjoyed success this weekend
Freshman Reginald Young (Townsend, Delaware) enjoyed success in three events, beginning with his seventh place finish in the discus. He followed that with collegiate bests in the hammer throw, an eighth place time of 29.38 meters, and the javelin where he also took eighth with a throw of 40.82 meters. Fellow freshman Juwan Richardson (Baltimore, Maryland) registered a mark of 22.79 meters in the hammer throw, a new collegiate hallmark for him as well.
Sophomore Brandon Carter (Brandywine, Maryland) competed in the decathlon and earned new collegiate marks in five of the events. Carter set new standards for himself in the discus, shot put, long jump, pole vault and high jump.
The runners at the event were no slouches either. On the women's side, junior Jennaya Hield (Freeport, Bahamas) set a new collegiate time of 2:12.28 as a runner up in the 800 meter. Two other runners placed in the top ten of the 800 run, including senior Jheniel Kelly (Edgewood, Maryland) with a fourth place time of 2:14.45 and sophomore Janice Lane (Carson, California) with a ninth place time of 2:17.19. Sophomore Loundy Desire (Queens Village, New York) also captured a ninth spot in the 200 meter dash with a time of 24.85 seconds.
On the men's side freshmen Jalen Walker (Germantown, Maryland) and Jero Sneh (Wilmington, Delaware) both set collegiate bests in the 200 meter dash. Walker's time of 21.96 seconds earned him IC4A/ECAC qualifications while Sneh topped himself with a time of 23.27 seconds. In the 5000 meter run junior Nassor Whitehead (Sunrise, Florida) finished third in his event with a time of 16:12.85.
In the jumps sophomore Tanise Edwards (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) took fourth in the women's triple jump at a distance of 11.76 meters while junior Kevin Stanford (Salisbury, Maryland) took third in the high jump with a distance of 1.93 meters.
The Morgan Legacy was affected by team scoring while the Virginia Challenge was not. In Baltimore the ladies scored 42 points to come in eighth. The men also came in eighth but scored a little over half the points the ladies did, with 23.
Maryland Eastern Shore will merge together for the Penn Relays this weekend in Philadelphia.
