PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland - In a hard fought meet on the home circuit, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore track & field team placed third at the Cappy Anderson Invitational this past Saturday (Dec. 1). The men's team earned a total of 104 points to comfortably place third while the women narrowly edged Delaware State with 66 points for its third place ranking.

A bulk of the men's points came from the throwing events. Sophomore Kyle Nottage (Waldorf, Maryland), freshman Nasir Neal-Watson (Salisbury, Maryland) and junior Tamunoibi Dabipi  (Salisbury, Maryland) achieved a trifecta in the shot put. Nottage led the way with a distance of 13.54 meters in a combined effort that produced 24 points. Dabipi went on to win the weight throw with a distance of 15.68 meters for another 10 points, while Nottage added five points by placing fourth.

Relays also helped drive up the point totals for both teams. The men's and women's distance medley squads each placed second, with the men finishing in 10:46.48 and the women completing the event in 13:37.99. A men's 4x400 team consisting of freshman Omar Rogers (Brooklyn, New York), sophomore Janoi Brown (Randallstown, Maryland), freshman Khaloni Mganga (Germantown, Maryland) and freshman Tremaine Brown (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) took second with a time of 3:25.89.

Individual achievements made up for the remaining points. Janoi Brown won the 400 meter run in 50.18 seconds for the 10 points. That time will also serve as a personal record.  Sophomore Shemar Parker (Wilmington, Delaware) tied for second with 3.20 meters in the pole vault.

In her collegiate debut freshman Zyah Brown (Chesapeake, Virginia) placed third in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.87 seconds. Fellow freshman Arianna Krcik (Pasadena, Maryland) took third with a time of 2:35.50 in the 800 meter run during her indoor track debut.

Newcomers Duvaire Wauchope (Portmore, Jamaica), Ashley Woolfork (Salisbury, Maryland), Chislon Gordon (St. Thomas, Jamaica) and Mganga finished with fourth place efforts. Wauchope finished the 800 meter run in 2:02.48, and Woolfork ran a 1:22.34 in the 500 meter run. Gordon qualified for the 60 dash finals where he ran a time of 7.17 seconds. Mganga added his name to the rolls with a time of 23.14 seconds in the 200 dash.

Delaware State went on to win the men's meet and Howard won the women's meet.

Maryland Eastern Shore will now take a five week hiatus from competition. Their next meet will be the HBCU Battle in New York City on January 11th.