SALISBURY, Maryland - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore track & field team scored over 200 combined points in a marquee effort at the Eastern Shore Challenge Saturday (April 13). The men's team won with a total of 136 points and the women's team took third with 85 points.
A key highlight for the men's squad was the 4x400 relay, who registered one of three victories for the team Saturday. The quartet of Jaylin Nelson (Hyattsville, Maryland), Janoi Brown (Randallstown, Maryland), Duvaire Wauchope (Portmore, Jamaica) and Jonathan Robertson (Washington, District of Columbia) qualified for the IC4A Championships with a time of 3:15.57.
The women's team bested the men with five wins on the day. Neus Quinonero (Valencia, Spain) was a part of three of them. She won the 800m with a time of 2:17.68 and the 1500m in 4:39.59. Then she ran the third section of the 4x400 relay, where she and Ayanna Lynn (Rockville, Maryland), Naomi English (Kensington, Maryland), and Amirah Jones (Suffolk, Virginia) completed the event in 3:57.96. A second 4x400 women's team came in fifth, running a 4:10.40.
Additional wins for the men came from Wauchope with his 800m time of 1:56.47 and Chisom Onukwugha (New Carrollton, Maryland) with a time of 14.98 seconds in the 110 meter hurdles. On the women's side, Mercy Chemutai (Eldoret, Kenya) ran the 5K in 18:40.50 for a win, and Attinuke Shittu (Germantown, Maryland) finished in long jump with a 5.52 meter mark to claim victory.
Right behind Shittu was Christina Cropper (Wilmington, Delaware) with a runners-up mark of 5.28 meters. Hers was one of six second place efforts for the Hawks on the day. Joining Cropper was Brown in the 200 meter, Edwin Kipruto (Iten, Kenya) in the 5K, Nasir Neal-Watson (Salisbury, Maryland) in the shot put and Kyle Nottage (Waldorf, Maryland) in the discus throw. Nottage not only earned a top five for the discus but added third place finishes in the shot put and the hammer throw.
Shemar Parker (Wilmington, Delaware) and Joshua Goslee (Salisbury, Maryland) not only finished top five for the pole vault, but both qualified for MEAC's. Parker joined the list of runners up with a distance of 3.90 meters with Goslee right behind him at 3.75.
More top five finishes include a third place javelin throw from Onukwugha and the men's 4x100 relay team. Judah Corriette (Roseau, Dominica) and Chauncy Chewning (Richmond, Virginia) added fourth place efforts in the javelin and 110 meter hurdles, respectively. Brown in the men's 200, Arianna Krcik (Pasadena, Maryland) in the women's 800 and the women's 4x100 team also finished fourth. Lynn captured fifth place finishes in the women's 100 and 200 meter dashes.
This is the fifth win for the Hawks track team this year, but the first for an outdoor team since the 2016 Don Webster Invitational.
Next week the Hawks will travel to Baltimore for the Morgan State Legacy at Hughes Stadium.
