Big Dawg Invitational Results
BALTIMORE – Five school records fell
as the UMBC track and field team hosted its first invitational meet
in ten years, the Big Dawg Invitational, Saturday afternoon at UMBC
Stadium. Sophomore sprinter Mercedes Jackson (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown)
led the Retrievers on the day by breaking two school marks.
Already the holder of the 100m and 200m records at UMBC after
her breakout freshman campaign, Jackson reset both during her
first-ever home meet. In the 100m dash, Jackson led a
group of four Retrievers in the top-five, winning the event with a
time of 11.65 and qualifying for the ECAC meet in
May. Freshman D'Nique Phillip (Elkton, Md.) and junior Kirsten
Jones (Brentwood, Tenn./M.L.K. Magnet) each set
personal-bests, taking second and third place, while
sophomore Ebonique Jones (New Castle, Del./William
Penn) was fourth.
Jackson made it a sweep by taking top honors in the 200m dash
with a new personal-record time of 23.60. She along with
Phillip (24.51), the second-place finisher, qualified for the
regional meet with Phillip recording the third-fastest time in
school history. Kirsten
Jones tied her personal-best (24.91) to take fourth and
sophomore Kalane' Abbey (Laurel, Md./Laurel) finished
sixth. Abbey also set a personal-best in the 400m dash
(57.35).
Just outside the stadium, senior Yao
Adantor (Laurel, Md./Reservoir/Morgan St./Maryland),
freshman Vincent
Rentzsch (Oranienburg, Germany), and sophomore Thor
Serafenas (Olney, Md./Good Counsel/Clemson) put on a show
while setting new school marks in the shot put, javelin, and
hammer. Adantor, who finished third in the hammer and
sixth in the discus, took second in the shot put with a
school-record heave of 16.55m (54'3.75"). Adantor was
the top collegiate finisher in the event and qualified for the IC4A
meet to be held at Princeton. Serafenas, meanwhile, won
the hammer event with a toss of 59.85m (196'4.00") while finishing
third in the discus (48.29m; 158'5.00").
For the second-straight week Rentzsch put together a career
performance in the javelin. After breaking the school
record last week at the Florida State Relays, the freshman outdid
himself on Saturday with a throw of 60.38m (198'1.00").
On the women's side, senior Amanda
Deller (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen) paced a group of four
Retrievers in the top-ten in the hammer
competition. Freshman Jennifer Nelson (Plainfield, Conn./Plainfield)
took fourth in the event and moved to sixth in the UMBC record book
with a toss of 39.62m (130"0.00"). A three-time America
East champion in the shot put, Deller won the event on Saturday
with a throw of 13.57m (44'6.25").
Back on the track, the Retrievers owned both of the women's
relay races, claiming the 4x100 and 4x400 events, both in
ECAC-qualifying time. In the shorter of the two, Ebonique Jones, Phillip, freshman Tessa
Seale, and Jackson combined to cross the line in
47.28. The 1600 team of Kirsten
Jones, Abbey, junior Deborah Adelola (Lanham, Md./Bladensburg), and
senior Ashley Ajayi (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton)
finished ahead of the pack with a time of 3:51.28.
Senior Dennison
Long (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt/FIU) claimed his
first title of the outdoor season by winning the 200m dash
(21.83). Earlier in the day he qualified for the IC4A
meet in the 100m dash with a time of 10.81.
In the women's 400m hurdles, sophomore Paulette Fogle (Washington, D.C./Bishop McNamara)
took second with classmate Mary Katherine Kulp (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) just
back in third with a personal-best time of 1:05.20.
In the day's first event, freshman Redatu
Semeon (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) took third in the
3,000m steeplechase with the sixth-fastest time in UMBC history
(9:28.74).
The Retrievers return to action next weekend when the team heads
south the Durham, N.C. for the Duke Invitational which begins on
Friday, Apr. 5.
