VESTAL, N.Y. – Riding wins in the
10,000m run and javelin competition by freshmen Hassan
Omar (Frederick, Md./Thomas Johnson) and Vincent
Rentzsch (Oranienburg, Germany), the UMBC men's track and
field team took a share of the lead at the America East
Championships with 51 points, on day one of the competition at
Binghamton's East Gym Complex.
The Retrievers are tied atop the standings with reigning
champion Albany, while Binghamton (47 pts.) and New Hampshire (45
pts.) trail by less than ten points. Maine (22 pts.) and
Vermont (9 pts.) round out the standings.
The UMBC women sit in seventh after the first day of competition
with ten points. The host Bearcats lead with 63 points
with Albany (50 pts.), UNH (48.5 pts.) and Vermont (47.5 pts.) just
back. Maine (33 pts.) and Stony Brook (13 pts.) occupy
fifth and sixth, while Hartford (8 pts.) is in eighth.
Omar led a group of three Retrievers to place in the top-ten in
the 10k race. The freshman took the conference title
with a time of 31:42.63 while junior Tom
Eldridge (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) took fourth and
freshman Noah
Hutton (Bel Air, Md.) placed sixth.
Entering the conference meet as the top seed and as the UMBC
record-holder, Rentzsch earned the gold medal in the javelin by
besting the field by 16 feet. The freshman recorded a
top throw of 59.11m (193'11) to win the event. He also
finished 16th in the long jump and sits in third in the decathlon
after five events. Rentzsch won the shot put section of
the competition and took second in the long jump.
The Retrievers also received top team performances in the 3,000m
steeplechase and hammer throw. Freshman Redatu
Semeon (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) paced the distance crew
with a second-place finish with a time of
9:19.18. Juniors Vinny
DiSalvo (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville)
and Brandan
McGee (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) placed eighth and ninth,
respectively.
In the throwing event, sophomore Thor
Serafenas (Olney, Md./Good Counsel/Clemson) missed out on
the gold medal by just one foot. Serafeans' heave of
56.78m (186'3") finished just behind that of New Hampshire's
Christopher Dupuis (56.80m; 168'4"). Junior Ray Stinsman
(Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) finished fifth with a career-best toss of
50.75m (166'6").
UMBC also set itself up in the sprints as multiple athletes
qualified for Saturday's finals led by senior Trae
Proctor (Brandywine, Md./Thomas Stone) who ran the fastest
time in the 110m hurdles (14.75).
Senior Dennison
Long (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt/FIU) and
freshman Jenove Blanfort both qualified for the 100m and
200m dash events. Long posted the top time in the 200m
event, crossing the line in 21.39.
In the 800m run, junior Andrew
Smith (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley) and
freshman Andrew
Keresztes (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Port Jefferson) took the
top-two spots for the finals.
For the women, sophomore Mercedes Jackson (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown)
moved on to the finals in both sprint events as the top
qualifier. She will be joined by freshman D'Nique Phillip (Elkton, Md.) in both event finals
while classmate Ebonique Jones (New Castle, Del./William Penn) and
junior Kirsten Jones (Brentwood, Tenn./M.L.K.
Magnet) advanced in the 100m and 200m competitions,
respectively. Kirsten
Jones also moved on in the 400m dash with sophomore Kalane' Abbey (Laurel, Md./Laurel) recording a
personal-best of 57.32 to qualify as well.
Ebonique Jones also competed in the long jump and
took fourth-place with a top jump of 5.61m (18'5") to match her
career-best.
In the 400m hurdles, sophomore Paulette Fogle (Washington, D.C./Bishop McNamara)
edged her school-record time down to 1:01.33, the second-fastest
time of the day. Classmate Mary Katherine Kulp (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) also
registered a top personal time (1:03.67) to advance.
Sophomore Cody
Mezebish (Westminster, Md./South Carroll) ran a
personal-best time of 2:14.09 to move on to the finals of the 800m
run.
Senior Amanda Deller (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen)
finished fourth in the hammer throw event with a top throw of
45.78m (150'2").
