Firebirds Blaze in Sprints, Thrive in Field to Finish 2nd at ECC Outdoor Track & Field Championships
ROCHESTER, NY – Looking to win its 2nd straight East Coast Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship in just its 3rd ever appearance, the University of the District of Columbia could not overcome the depth of the vaunted Roberts Wesleyan College Redhawks, but did, however, place 2nd in the team standings with remarkable efforts in the sprint events and impressive finishes in the field events.
The Firebirds started their quest in the first Field event of the day – the javelin. With three athletes competing, the Firebirds had a perfect start to their day - taking the first three places in the event. Third place went to junior Tiara Goode (Criminal Justice – Brentwood, NY/Brentwood HS), who just missed her personal best by heaving the javelin 24.89M on her 4th throw. Teammate Tatyana Calhoun (Architecture – Disputanta, VA/Sussex Central HS) also impressed with a personal best throw of 25.63M to finish 2nd. The biggest performer on the day in that event would come from junior Myla Sommerville (Elementary Education – Loveville, MD/Bowie State), who took her first ECC Title with a throw of 27.83M - a personal best.
"Going 1-2-3 in the Javelin event likely took some folks [in the conference] by surprise, but not this team," Head Coach Alton McKenzie said.
Somerville actually accomplished this feat while having to run from the Javelin throw to the High Jump mat, as she competed in both at the same time. She also managed to equal her personal best in the High Jump, clearing 1.50M to finish in a tie for 2nd place.
While the Firebirds' throwers were on fire in the field, the action also got under way on the track. Competing in her first 400M Hurdle race as a collegiate athlete, junior Christina Baker (Psychology – Kingston, Jamaica/Collegiate Institute for Math & Science) finished 4th in the 400M Hurdles with a time of 1:14.22. She managed this 4th place finish despite taking an extremely bad spill at the 5th hurdle where she not only got back up, but fought her way back to beat out competitors and end up 4th in the field of seven to earn a very tough five team points.
The action continued on the track as the quartet of Brittany Okon, Simone Grant, Geordinell Thurston and Jerily Benjamin competed in the 4x100M Relay. In the event that would begin a string of wins for the Firebirds in the sprint events, UDC persevered through a challenging first three legs before anchor Jerily Benjamin closed out a tremendous finishing leg to secure the win with a team time of 48.78s.
Next for UDC was the 400M event. Senior Kimoy Mais (Mass Media – St. Andrew, Jamaica/St. Andrew HS) scored from the slower heat, running 61.10s for 6th place. Teammate Marlena Wright finished 4th in a time of 60.40s. Benjamin, meanwhile, defended her title with a time of 58.39s.
Next, sophomore Brittany Okon (Health Education – Bronx, NY/Pelham Prep Academy) and junior Simone Grant (Health Education – Bronx, NY/Pelham Prep Academy) would make their mark in the Long Jump while also looking to make their presence felt in the 100M sprint event. While trying to qualify for the 100M Finals, they were busy competing in the very competitive Long Jump event. Grant led the competition from the first jump, only taking one jump in the prelims to conserve energy for the 100M Final. Okon was in a similar scenario, but facing more adversity as she entered the Long Jump Final in 7th. Okon was able to move up to 5th with an effort of 5.26M on her 4th try. Grant would leap out to 5.50M on her 4th attempt - yet another season best. She was only bested by a leap of 5.61M by Molloy's Stephanie Meyer.
Action for the Firebirds switched back to the track with Okon and Grant returning from the Long Jump Final to compete in the 100M final. They were joined by Baker, making her first 100M Final appearance at the Conference Championships. Baker ran a personal best 12.62s to finish a respectable 5th place, and Okon edged her for 4th with a time of 12.60s. But, on a mission in the 100M Final after having just been edged in the Long Jump Final, was Grant. Getting one of her best starts all season, Grant got away from the field and ran her collegiate best, 12.18s to not only take the win, but also establish a new ECC Meet Record in the event.
Next up on the track for the Firebirds was freshman Shayna Hodge (Undecided – Glenn Dale, MD/Duval HS) who finished 4th in the 100M Hurdles with a time of 16.60s. The Firebirds later saw additional success in the field with a pair of scorers in the Shot Put. Freshman Tajah Franklin (General Education – Washington, DC/Woodrow Wilson Senior HS) would finish 4th best with a season best of 10.19M. Calhoun continued her successful day with a 2nd place finish, throwing a personal best of 11.46M. The Firebirds also had a scorer in the Discus event as Franklin earned a team point in that event with a throw of 15.77M.
Back on the track, the Firebirds would continue their sprint dominance with three scorers in the 200M event. Running in a slower heat and having not competed in a 200M all season, Marlena Wright (Journalism – Bronx, NY/Dewitt Clinton HS) finished 5th overall with a time of 25.80s. Benjamin won her heat with a time of 25.50s, which was good for 3rd best overall. But winning another sprint event would be Grant - who sped away for the win with a time of 24.94s to take the sprint double.
Grant would end her long day with a field event, competing in her first Triple Jump of the Outdoor season. She jumped a very respectable 11.22M after a long day and finished 2nd overall, again only bested by Molloy's Meyer.
The Firebirds closed the meet in the same fashion as the previous two Outdoor ECC Championships: a victory in the 4x400M Relay. The quartet of Christina Baker, Marlena Wright, Kimoy Mais and Jerily Benjamin took the victory with a time of 4:01.59, helped by a tremendous 2nd leg from Wright which saw the team go from 4th to in the lead. They would lose the lead ever so slightly on the 3rd leg, but would not be denied a 3rd straight event win as anchor leg runner Jerily Benjamin ensured the victory with a comfortable, but commanding run.
Despite a very strong effort, the Firebirds could not overcome the depth of Roberts Wesleyan University (189 points), who was eligible for championship consideration in the meet for the first time in the program's history. The Firebirds would finish 2nd overall with 139 points.
McKenzie said despite coming up short for the championship repeat, he was very impressed with the team's effort on the track and in the field.
"What a meet! We had quite a number of personal bests and season bests across the board - not just on the track but also in the field," McKenzie said. "We talked about just competing and fighting for every point available, and the entire team did just that. Our sprinters and jumpers are who usually put us in a position to excel, but today it was a total team effort as we excelled in the throws as well. I couldn't be more proud of this group...we're small, but we certainly have quality."
McKenzie added that the East Coast Conference continues to get more competitive each year in every event, which will only help UDC down the road.
"As our conference grows and gets more and more competitive each year, it will bode well for us as we continue to compete after the league championship meet and pursue some NCAA qualifying marks.
The Firebirds' season continues next week as they head to the historic Penn Relays in Philadelphia, April 23-25th.
