Firebirds Finish 6th at Maryland Outdoor Track & Field Invitational

COLLEGE PARK, MD – The University of the District of Columbia women's track & field team finished 6^th of 10 teams with a score of 47 points at the Maryland Outdoor Track & Field Invitational on Saturday, March 18^th.

The Firebirds, who had close to ideal weather conditions for their first outdoor meet of the season with sun and temperatures in the 50's for most of the day, scored points in nine different events, including a 10-point tally for winning the 4x100M Relay. Stacy-Ann Rowe, Shannell Hibbert, Brittany Okon and Jasmine Walker teamed up for a winning time of 49.91s, besting the 2^nd place team from NJIT by nearly six-tenths of a second.

UDC's 4x400M Relay team, coming off a 1^st place showing in the East Coast Conference Indoor Championship meet, also added three points to the team total as it finished 6^th overall with Kenlyn Duncan, Deasia Greer, Temera Duncan and Niasia Harding running a time of 4:31.22.

Harding also pitched in an additional eight points for UDC with her individual performance in the 400M Hurdles as she won Heat 2 and placed 2^nd overall out of 11 competitors with a time of 1:08.12. Junior Shayna Hodge was 2^nd in Heat 2 and 9^th overall with a time of 1:14.87, and she added one point to UDC's total.

Meanwhile, Okon added nine points across two individual events as she scored UDC five points in the 100M and four points in the Long Jump. She was 2^nd in Heat 1 and 4^th overall in the 100M with a time of 12.94s, and 5^th in both Heat 2 and overall with a leap of 4.88M.

Also running the 100M was Hibbert, who won Heat 3 with a time of 12.95s and was 5^th overall just behind Okon. She earned four points to the team total with that run, and she would also add three more points with her performance in the 100M Hurdles. In that event, she won Heat 2 and placed 6^th overall with a time of 15.99s.

In the Triple Jump event, Greer faulted on attempts No. 1 and 3, but came through on her final attempt with a bound of 10.71M to place 4^th overall and earn UDC five points.

Temera Duncan pitched in three points to the UDC total with her performances in the 200M and 400M events. She placed 3^rd in Heat 2 and 8^th overall with a time of 26.35s in the 200M to earn one point, and she placed 5^th in Heat 1 and 7^th overall with a time of 1:00.80 in the 400M to earn two points.

Stacy-Ann Rowe also added one point to the team total as she placed 2^nd in Heat 2 and 8^th overall with a time of 16.14s in the 100M Hurdles.

Next up, UDC will travel to Williamsburg, VA to compete in the Colonial Relays on March 30^th.