Firebirds Put on a Show at ECC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Finish Runners-Up
ROCHESTER, NY - Competing in its 4th East Coast Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the University of the District of Columbia set its sights on a 3rd ECC title, but fell short against an extremely deep and talented Roberts Wesleyan squad.
In what would be a very competitive meet, the Firebirds looked to get their Championships off on a positive note in their first Field event of the day - the Women's High Jump. UDC had two entries - the reigning ECC Indoor High Jump champion Saida Burns-Moore, and senior Myla Somerville - making her seasonal debut in the event. Somerville would make a huge impact for the Firebirds, clearing a personal best height of 1.55M and finishing 2nd overall among the six athletes entered in the event. Burns-Moore would continue her dominance in the event, winning the event with a clearance of 1.65M, equaling her Outdoor season best. That 1-2 finish would contribute major points to the Firebirds' effort.
UDC would also make an immediate impact in another field event, as senior Tiara Goode threw a new personal best in the Javelin with a throw of 26.11M. She finished 2nd overall of 14 competitors in the event.
The Firebirds then got to work on the track, competing in a hotly contested 4x100M Relay. The quartet of Stacy-Ann Rowe, Jerily Benjamin, Jasmine Walker and Simone Grant would finish 2nd in a time of 48.36s. It would take a new ECC Meet Record of 47.78s from Roberts Wesleyan College to relegate the Firebirds to runner-up.
The Firebirds would then head back to the field events, looking to amass more points to their total. The Long Jump proved to be a key event in doing so, as senior Simone Grant and junior Brittany Okon were superb. Grant, who had not competed in this event all season long, opened with a leap of 5.57M on her first jump. She would not take another jump in the preliminaries as she looked to qualify for the 100M Final. (She would have to go straight from the pit to the 100M start)
Okon was in the same position, having to secure a place in the 100M final before the completion of the Long Jump. The Firebirds would place four athletes in the Final of the 100M, and Okon and Grant were two of them. When they got back to the Long Jump, Okon had her best series of jumps in her career as a Firebird, jumping personal bests on her last two attempts in the finals. She entered the finals in 3rd place and exchanged places with the 3rd place finisher by jumping 5.50M. Then, once again, she jumped a personal best of 5.56M on her final attempt - just short of the 5.57M mark leading the competition at the time.
Grant would actually take that lead going into her last attempt, and ultimately made it clear who the best jumper was in the ECC - leaping out to a new personal best of 5.72M on her final jump for the win. The mark was just shy of the ECC Outdoor Record of 5.76m.
Also competing in the Long Jump and contributing critical points for the Firebirds was Burns-Moore, who was 4th with a leap of 4.98M.
Next, the Firebirds had their first victory on the track with graduate Jerily Benjamin taking her 3rd consecutive ECC Outdoor victory in the 400M, running out a comfortable winner in a time of 57.88s. Senior Marlena Wright also scored in the event, finishing 5th overall among 15 competitors in the event with a time of 61.24s.
Then came the 100M Finals with the Firebirds lining up four athletes. Ironically, they would finish in unison, 4th thru 7th in the event. Jasmine Walker was 7th in a time of 12.60s, Okon 6th in 12.50s, Stacy-Ann Rowe 5th in 12.48s, and Grant as the top finisher for the Firebirds with a 4th place finish in a time of 12.45s.
Rowe returned to the track in the next event immediately following the 100M finals to turn in a splendid performance in the 100M hurdles. She would take the lead from the gun, never yielding on her way to a new ECC Outdoor Track & Field Record running of 14.81s.
Around that same time, the Firebirds were also back in the win column in the Field, where Burns-Moore added another victory to her day by winning the Triple Jump with a leap of 11.13M. Another scorer on the day for the Firebirds was Tajah Franklin, who finished 3rd in the Shot Put with a heave of 10.38M.
The next track event that saw Firebirds contributing points was the 200M, where three Firebirds were able to score. Walker ran 25.86s to finish 6th, Benjamin was 5th with a time of 25.66s, and the top finisher for the Firebirds was Grant, who ran 25.19s to finish 2nd. She was denied the win only by another new meet record.
The Firebirds would close out the day with a win in the 4x400m Relay, as the quartet of Marlena Wright, Jerily Benjamin, Jasmine Walker and Simone Grant earned a comfortable victory with a time of 3:59.61s.
UDC would end its ECC Outdoor Championship day with six Event wins (High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump, 400M, 100M hurdles, and the 4x400M Relay), but could not overcome the depth of the Roberts Wesleyan College Redhawks.
Head Coach Alton McKenzie said that finishing 2nd overall by taking six event wins, earning a few 1-2 finishes, and placing scorers in multiple events would amount to a successful day by anyone's estimation.
"We've set the bar very high based on our previous successes, so though we're pleased with the overall performance there's still the desire to win it all. But by no means could we be disappointed, especially with the field event wins and the big personal best from Simone and Brittany in the Long Jump. Also, Jerily winning her 3rd consecutive Outdoor Title at 400M and our 4x400M [Relay] win was our 4th consecutive victory in the event to close out the meet," he said.
McKenzie added that the team made its presence felt even with a contingent of just 14 athletes.
"Congrats to Roberts [Wesleyan] on a great meet…their depth was just too much for us to overcome," he said. "But, we have nothing to hang our heads about. I am extremely proud of our effort on the day as a team, and I'm pleased we sent our seniors – Simone, Jerily and Marlena - off on a good note competing in their last ECC Championship meet."
This marks the end of the season for several of the UDC student-athletes. A few will continue competing and look to carry their strong showing at the ECC Championships into next week at the biggest Relay Carnival in the world - the Penn Relays.
