Firebirds Compete at GMU Spring Invite

FAIRFAX, VA - With another meet primarily consisting of Division I Teams, the Firebirds again held their own and came away with strong performances at George Mason University's Spring Invite.

The Firebirds had strong performances in the sprints, with freshman Brittany Okon (Health Education – Bronx, NY/Pelham Prep Academy) running 12.59 to finish 38^th of 61 competitors in the 100M (just short of her season's best of 12.52). Okon would later partner with Shauna-Kay Creary, Jasmine Smith and Simone Grant to run a season's-best time of 48.01 in the 4x100M, good for 2^nd in Section 2 and 6^th of nine teams overall in the event. 

UDC also had a strong showing in the 400M where junior Jerily Benjamin (Health Education – Queens, NY/Phillip Randolph HS) ran yet another personal best of 56.77 seconds, finishing 3^rd of seven runners in Section 3 of the event. Her time was the 11^th fastest on the day amongst 48 competitors (and 9^th best among all collegiate athletes).

The 200M saw strong performances as well, with senior Kaydian Jones (Journalism – Kingston, Jamaica/St. Andrew HS) leading the charge for the Firebirds. She finished 2^nd in Section 5 with a season-best 24.92 seconds, which was good for 17^th overall in a field of 72 competitors.  Section 9 saw a trio of Firebirds crossing the line with personal bests; freshman Charmaine Sweeney (History – Landover, MD/Largo HS) ran 26.11 for the win, followed by senior Jasmine Smith (Architecture – Baltimore, MD/Polytechnic HS) in 26.18 seconds and sophomore Christina Baker (Forensic Psychology – Kingston, Jamaica/Collegiate Institute for Math & Science) third, also in 26.18 seconds.

The Firebirds also had some presence in the field as Shauna-Kay Creary finished 16^th of 32 competitors with a leap of 10.86M and sophomore Simone Grant (Health Education – Bronx, NY/Pelham Prep Academy) jumping 10.71M for 18^th in the field of 32 in the Triple Jump. Creary also opened her Outdoor Campaign in the High Jump clearing 1.55M for 17^th of 28 competitors in the event.

UDC would close out the meet with their usual strong performance in the 4x400M. Led by yet another scintillating lead-off from Kaydian Jones, the Firebirds were right in front and maintained that lead through the 2^nd leg with Jerily Benjamin. Sophomore Marlena Wright (Journalism – Bronx, NY/Dewitt Clinton HS) kept the Firebirds in the mix and handed off 2^nd in a very competitive race. Simone Grant stayed close but could not match the anchor legs from the top two teams. Still, she kept the Firebirds in the top three, as the Firebirds finished 3^rd with a time of 3:48.66 seconds - an NCAA Provisional qualifying time and their 2^nd fastest time run as a team this season. They finished 3^rd among 13 teams competing in the event. 

Head coach Alton McKenzie said that the team has been put to the test the past two weeks at William & Mary's Colonial Relays and now this week at George Mason, and that should bode well for the Firebirds as they get ready to contend for their first Outdoor Track & Field East Coast Conference Championship.

"We'll now head into the Conference Championships race sharp and prepared for that meet, where we can hone in on contending for a Conference Title," McKenzie said.

The Firebirds head to Lakewood, NJ for the ECC Outdoor Championships on Saturday, April 19^th.