Firebirds Dominate Sprints and Jumps to Earn Historic First ECC Outdoor Track & Field Title
LAKEWOOD, NJ - Led by their usual strong performances in the sprints and jumps, the Firebirds were able to make history by garnering University of the District of Columbia's first East Coast Conference Outdoor Track & Field Title at the 2014 Championships held at Georgian Court University. UDC's win gives them a clean sweep after also capturing the ECC Indoor Championship this year as well.
Just like at the Indoor Championships, the Firebirds started the day with senior Shauna-Kay Creary (Accounting – Kingston, Jamaica/St. Andrew HS) in the High Jump, where she was just barely beaten out for the win after clearing 1.63M for the silver. Sophomore Myla Somerville (Elementary Education – Loveville, MD/Bowie State) also earned a point for the Firebirds with a 6th place finish, clearing 1.45M.
The first track event - the 400M Hurdles - saw sophomore Jeania Bagley (Journalism – Forestville, MD/Friendly HS) finishing 3rd in a time of 72.28 seconds. Next up for the Firebirds was the 4x100M Relay, where UDC chalked up the first of several event wins. The quartet of Kaydian Jones, Shauna-Kay Creary, Jasmine Smith and Brittany Okon had a comfortable win in a time of 49.01.
Three members of that 4x100 Team had to hurry from the track back to the runway to contest in the Long Jump along with sophomore Simone Grant (Health Education – Bronx, NY/Pelham Prep Academy) as all four were finalists. Creary finished 6th in her third event of the day with a leap of 4.89M. Before contesting the final of the long jump, Grant, Okon and Jones would head to the track to compete in the finals of the 100M. They were joined by Smith and senior Atiya Amis (Mass Media – Washington, DC/Dunbar Senior HS), and all five placed in the 100M. With a new season's best in a dominating performance, Jones won the 100M and defended her title from last season with a time of 12.24. The Firebirds would finish 1st through 4th as Grant was 2nd at 12.59 seconds, Smith 3rd at 12.60 and Okon 4th with a time of 12.78 seconds. Amis finished 6th with a time of 13.16 seconds.
Jones then returned to the Long Jump pit where she finished second with a leap of 5.31M, edged only by her teammate, Simone Grant, who jumped a season's best 5.32M on her final attempt to take the victory.
During the action in the Pit, the Firebirds were also adding victories on the track as junior Jerily Benjamin (Health Education – Queens, NY/Phillip Randolph HS) continued her great season in the 400M with a comfortable win in her pet event with a time of 57.12 seconds. Other Firebirds scoring in that event were sophomore Marlena Wright (Journalism – Bronx, NY/Dewitt ClintonHS),who was 4th running 59.66 seconds, freshman Charmaine Sweeney (History – Landover, MD/Largo HS) in 5th in 60.79 seconds (new personal best), and junior Kimoy Mais (Mass Media – St. Andrew, Jamaica/St. Andrew HS) in 6th in 60.80 seconds.
Back to action in the 100M Hurdles, Bagley would earn her second bronze medal of the day, running a personal best 17.05 seconds. The Firebirds also scored points in the 800M where Mais finished 5th with a time of 2:23.95 seconds. Points were also being tallied for the Firebirds in the Field events as sophomore Tatyana Calhoun (Environmental Science – Disputanta, VA/Sussex Central HS) came through with a personal best of 11.00m to finish 2nd in the Shot Put. She also earned a point in the Javelin with a throw of 23.79m to finish 6th. Later, Creary would take another individual victory for the Firebirds in the field, winning the Triple Jump as she bounded out to 11.20m.
Back on the track, the Firebirds sprinting dominance continued in the 200M event. The Firebirds occupied the top nine places of 22 competitors in the event, scoring all 31 points attainable. Wright was 6th in 26.57, Smith, 5th in 26.41, Creary (in her fourth event of the day) 4th in 26.38, Benjamin, 3rd in 25.83 and Grant, 2nd in 25.62 seconds. The winner was the team's senior work horse, Kaydian Jones who completed her 100M-200M sprint double - two years in succession - winning in a season's best time of 24.80 seconds to earn her third win on the day.
The Firebirds would close the show with yet another dominating performance in the 4x400M. Lead-off runner Sweeney put the Firebirds in contention from the start, but on the second leg, Benjamin (third event and two wins) put the race out of reach, opening up a large lead which would only get widened by Wright in the third leg. Anchor leg runner Kaydian Jones added to that margin, and would cap off her long day competing in five events (her 4th victory on the day and one runner up) with a comfortable anchor leg that gave the Firebirds the win in a time of 3:58.13 seconds - winning by over seven seconds.
Head coach Alton McKenzie, the Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year in the ECC, was elated with the ECC Championship sweep in both Indoor and Outdoor this season. According to McKenzie, he could not have asked for a better way to accomplish this feat than how the Firebirds managed.
"Though we have a small group, the quality we possess in the sprints and jumps gave us the tools needed to contend for a Conference Title," he explained. "The team embraced competing in multiple events, and it has led to Conference Titles in Indoor and Outdoor. This is a great achievement for the program, and more importantly, the University of the District of Columbia. I'm proud to be at the helm while we've had these successes, and it bodes well for the future and the rest of this season."
The Firebirds have a short turnaround as they will head to the 120th running of the historic Penn Relay Carnival in Philadelphia, PA on April 24th-26th.