BOSTON – UMBC seniors Cameron
McDearmon (Owings Mills, Md./Franklin) and Amanda
Deller (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen) won the respective men's
and women's weight throw competitions while Mercedes Jackson (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown)
broke the America East record in the 60m dash preliminaries on the
first day of the conference track and field championships, Monday
at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.
After the first day, the Retriever men stand in fourth place
with 28 points while the women are in fifth with 29
points. Binghamton leads both of the standings with the
men earning 52.5 points and the women scoring 50.5 points.
McDearmon's win is his first career league title after claiming
a bronze medal in both the weight throw and shot put two years ago
and finishing sixth last year. McDearmon, the school
record holder in the indoor weight throw, recorded a heave of
18.13m (59'10.75"), to best the field, while three other Retrievers
finished in the top-ten. Sophomore Thor
Serafenas (Olney, Md./Good Counsel/Clemson) took fourth
place with junior Yao
Adantor (Laurel, Md./Reservoir/Morgan St./Maryland) and
junior Ray Stinsman
III (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) finishing in seventh and
ninth, respectively.
For Deller, a three-time champion in the indoor shot put, it was
her second straight win in the weight throw
competition. The senior's toss of 16.49m (54'1.25") was
almost a foot farther than that of the second place finisher, Robyn
McFetters of Maine. Freshmen Jennifer Nelson (Plainfield, Conn./Plainfield)
and Nneoma Edokobi (Rockville, Md./Richard
Montgomery) also earned top-ten finishes with Edokobi posting a
career-best throw of 14.47m (47'5.75") to move up to seventh
all-time in school history.
Both the men's and women's distance medley relay teams finished
in third place. The women's squad of junior Cody Mezebish (Westminster, Md./South Carroll),
freshman Essence Fredericks (Baltimore, Md./Carver Center),
sophomore Sarah Daly (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion),
and freshman Angel Bucci (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby)
broke the school record in the event and qualified for the ECAC
meet, which will be held in less than a month. The team
trailed only Albany and Stony Brook after crossing the line with a
time of 12:05.78 which breaks the previous record of 12:19.05 which
was set in 2002.
The men's team of junior Jake
Albino (Hampton, N.Y./Minisink Valley), freshman Andrew
Keresztes (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Port Jefferson),
junior Andrew
Smith (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley), and Noah
Hutton finished in 10:11.19, behind only Maine and
Binghamton.
Meanwhile, it was another record-breaking day on the track for
Jackson. Last year's Most Outstanding
Rookie, Jackson made a move to earn the top individual honor
this time around by leading the pack in the prelims in both the 60m
dash and 200m dash. In the shorter sprint, Jackson raced
past the field and recorded the fastest time in conference meet
history, 7.36. Sophomore Ebonique Jones (New
Castle, Del./William Penn) also moved on to the finals in the 60m
event by finishing in fourth with a personal-best time of
7.72. Jones rounded out her day by earning a silver
medal in the long jump by leaping a personal-best 5.64m
(18'6.00").
Jackson is one of just three Retrievers in the finals of the
200m dash as junior Kirsten
Jones (Brentwood, Tenn./M.L.K. Magnet) and freshman D'Nique Phillip (Elkton, Md.) placed fourth and seventh
to move on to Tuesday's finals. Jones and Phillip will
also compete in the finals of the 400m dash, along with sophomore
Kalane' Abbey (Laurel, Md./Laurel), as the three
Retrievers took third, fourth, and fifth.
In the 500m run, sophomore Paulette Fogle (Washington, D.C./Bishop McNamara),
the top-seed going into the meet, qualified first in the prelim
round with a time of 1:15.01.
The UMBC men also had a successful day of qualifying in the
short sprints, led by senior Dennison
Long (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt/FIU) who advanced
in both the 60m and 200m. Juniors Dosu
Teyibo (Silver Spring, Md./Barrie) and Pat
Balderson (Mount Airy, Md./Linganore) will join Long in
the shorter sprint after finishing seventh and ninth.
After four of seven events in the heptathlon, freshman Vincent
Rentzsch (Oranienburg, Germany) sits in third
place. The rookie won the shot put event while taking
second in the long jump, eighth in the 60m dash, and tenth in the
high jump.
Senior Trae
Proctor (Brandywine, Md./Thomas Stone), a two-time
conference champion in the 60m hurdles, moved on to the finals in
the event, while freshman Niko
Coaxum (Suitland, Md./Largo) advanced to the finals of the
400m dash.
Freshman Hassan
Omar (Frederick, Md./Thomas Johnson) finished fifth in the
5,000m run with a personal-best time of 14:52.37.
In the pole vault, junior Liam
Stott (Carrboro, N.C./Chapel Hill) set a career-best by
clearing 4.20m (13'9.25") and finishing eighth.
Day two of the America East Championships will kick off at 10:00
a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12 with the conclusion of the men's
heptathlon. The meet will run throughout the day,
concluding with the 4x400m relays.
