Firebirds Overcame the Weather to Finish 2nd at the Mary Washington Battleground Relays

FREDERICKSBURG, VA – The University of the District of Columbia women's outdoor track and field team braved the cold wintry conditions to place 2nd overall at the Mary Washington Battleground Relays.

The Firebirds competed over two days with sophomore Shakeithia Nicholson starting with the triple jump event;  she managed to finish 1st with a personal best of 10.74m to get UDC started.

Next, the 4x800m team of Aisha Dozier, Kenlyn Duncan, Dajour Jones, and Dabrin Snorton impressed with a 2nd place finish in a time of 11:04.34. Sophomore Niasia Harding had a successful weekend first in the 200m where she ran 26.01s to cross the line in 3rd. Temera Duncan closely followed her in 5th place in a time of 26.28s and Shaneika Bowra ran 26.35s to take 6th.

Saturday saw the wintry weather conditions challenge the Firebirds with temperatures dropping into the mid 30's.However, this didn't phase UDC as they started the day with the 1600m sprint medley relay (200m, 200m, 400m, 800m) that consisted of the quartet, Shannell Hibbert, Bowra, Temera Duncan, and Jones – they finished in a time of 4:30.88 to place 2nd.  In the 100m, Harding finished 3rd in 13.84s, followed by Shayna Hodge in 13.87s for 4th, and Desiree Gaeckler in 14.08s for 6th. The 4x100m relay saw Cierra Roberts, Bowra, Gaeckler, and Harding take 1st place in 50.56s. 

Harding continued her fine form when she placed 1st in the 400m hurdles in a time of 1:10.82 and Hodge who was leading the majority of the race took 2nd in 1:12.40. 

Up next was the 100m hurdles and Hibbert proved again the strength she has in this event by finishing 1st in 16.81s. 

And to finish the day off the Firebirds had six finish in the top eight. Leading the way was sophomore Temera Duncan in 1st with a time of 1:02.09, 2nd place went to Roberts in 1:04.00, Hibbert took 3rd place in 1:04.27, 4th saw Jones take it in 1:04.53, Dozier took 5th in 1:06.39, and in 8th Kenlyn Duncan finished in 1:08.62 to round off a superb meet for the Firebirds. 

Coach Phillip said, "despite the weather and not executing in some of the races properly, I thought the ladies did a great job of just putting their heads down and competing."

The Firebirds will be in action at the George Mason University Spring Invitational, Saturday, April 14th.