Firebirds Finish 5th in East Coast Conference Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships

WILLIAMSVILLE, NY – The University of the District of Columbia women's outdoor track & field team placed 5^th in the East Coast Conference Championships on Saturday afternoon hosted by Daemen College at Williamsville South High School.

The Firebirds, who earned a total of 84 points, started the day off in excellent fashion in the 100M dash with sophomore Shannell Hibbert finishing 4^th overall in a time of 12.63 and teammate Shaneika Bowra was close behind with a time of 12.64 for a 5^th place finish.

In the 200M dash, UDC saw three athletes finish in scoring positions, with Bowra taking 4^th in 26.22, Hibbert took 5^th in 26.51, and sophomore Cierra Roberts would go on to take the last scoring position with a time of 26.71 for 6^th overall.

The District of Columbia continued their impressive start with a strong showing in the 400M dash, and sophomore Temera Duncan put in an accomplished performance for a 2^nd place finish in 59.51. Teammate and freshman Dajour Jones added to the Firebirds success taking 5^th place in 1:01.84.

Then, the 100M hurdles saw a remarkable showing by Hibbert who took 1^st in the event with a time of 15.44 for all 10 points. Sophomore Niasia Harding performed equally as notable with her 1^st place finish in the 400M hurdles for maximum points in the event.  Also, senior Shayna Hodge earned a point from taking 6^th in the 400M hurdles event.

The Firebirds rounded off the track events with superb performances in the relays. First in the 4x100M relay the quartet of Roberts, Harding, Hibbert, and Bowra took 2^nd place in a striking time of 49.68. Next, UDC matched that result in the 4x400M event with Temera Duncan, Roberts, Harding, and Jones taking a comfortable 2^nd in 4:02.41. Finally, the 4x800M relay saw the group of Aisha Dozier, Kenlyn Duncan, Hodge, and Dabrin Snorton finish 5^th in a time of 11:18.10.

The field events proved just as successful with the Long Jump seeing Roberts finish 1^st with tremendous leap of 5.27m, and Shakeithia Nicholson would add to that leap with 4^th place in a jump of 4.70m.

Nicholson ended the Firebirds day the way it started earning 2^nd in the triple jump with a jump of 10.48m.

UDC will return to action, Thursday, April 26^th at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.