ORONO, Maine – Track and field
freshmen Malte Bertram (Einbeck, Germany/Goethschule
Gymnasium) and Mercedes
Jackson (Huntington, Md./Huntington) were each named Most
Outstanding Rookie for their respectively competitions as the UMBC
track and field teams competed at the America East Championships at
the University of Maine this weekend. Jackson was also named
the Most Outstanding Rookie at the Indoor Championships back in
February.
The women's squad finished fourth with 105 points while the men
finished in sixth place with 78.5 points.
The Albany men (181) and women (185) were both victorious at
Maine while the Binghamton men (147) and Boston University women
(130) claimed second. In the men's competition, Boston
U. (145.5), Maine (97.5) and New Hamphire (97.5) rounded out the
top-five followed by UMBC (78.5), Vermont (56), Stony Brook (43)
and Hartford (23). For the women, Binghamton (124.5),
UMBC (105) and Vermont (90) placed three through five with New
Hampshire (88.5), Maine (56), Stony Brook (48) and Hartford (30)
finishing out the scoring.
Jackson once again was a key for the Retriever women, winning
the 200m dash in a school record time of 23.80, breaking her own
previous mark of 24.05 set earlier this year. The rookie
also won a silver medal in the 100m dash (11.84) and anchored the
4x100 relay to a win. Jackson along with
classmates Ebonique
Jones (New Castle, Del./William Penn), Briana
Young (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) and Whitney
Ikpeze (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bladensburg) were just off
school record pace, completing the race in 46.96 at the
championships.
Freshman Paulette
Fogle (Washington, D.C./Bishop McNamara) also had a record
breaking day, claiming fourth in the 400m hurdles in a UMBC record
time of 1:01.87.
In the shorter distance hurdles, senior Imani
Colbert (Upper Marlboro, Md./C.H. Flowers) won the bronze
(14.13) while junior Chowan
Brightful (New Market, Md./Linganore) finished just behind
her teammate with a time of 14.17.
Junior Amanda
Deller (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen) continued her dominance in
the shot put at conference meets, winning the event for the sixth
time in her college career. Her throw of 14.81m
(48'7.25") bested the field including teammate Chrissy
Robinson (Patuxent, Md./Lusby) who took third with a toss
of 13.18m (43'3"). Deller also won a silver in the
discus with a throw of 41.86m (137'4").
Bertram led the way for the men, taking top honors in the
decathlon with 6,543 points, good enough to rank fourth all-time in
school history. The German won the 400m and 1500m runs
as well as the shot put in the decathlon competition while also
placing second in the long jump.
Sophomore Brandan McGee (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) joined
Bertram on top of the medal stand, winning the 3000m
steeplechase. His personal-best time of 9:01.73 also
broke the UMBC school record of 9:02.64 set back in 1990 by Paul
Loebach.
In the triple jump, junior Shioma Obemeata (New Rochelle, N.Y./Iona Prep/St.
Francis) also picked up valuable points for the Retrievers, winning
a silver medal with a leap of 14.50m (47'7").
Senior Aaron Brooks (Upper Marlboro, Md./DeMatha) matched
Obemeata's silver with one of his own in the discus (51.50m
168'11") with teammate Nnamdi Edokobi (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery)
placing eighth (44.28m, 145'3").
In the 1500m run, sophomore Jake
Albino (Hampton, N.Y./Minisink Valley) finished fourth
while jumping to third all-time in the school record book finishing
in 3:51.33.
Select athletes will now prepare for the IC4A and ECAC
Championships to be held at Princeton next weekend
