NEW YORK, N.Y. – Both the UMBC men's and women's school records in the 1,000m run fell, courtesy of senior Jake Albino (Hampton, N.Y./Minisink Valley) and junior Sarah Daly (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion), as the UMBC track and field team opened competition against a national field at the 2014 Armory Collegiate Invitational. The meet is the USTFCCCA Division I National Meet of the Week.
After setting a personal-best in the event nearly three weeks ago at the Navy Invitational to jump to third in the UMBC record book, Albino placed his name on top on Friday in New York. The veteran placed sixth in the race, crossing the line with a new school-best time of 2:25.48 to pass Izudin Mehmedovic's previous record from 2007.
In the women's race, Daly inched past senior Cody Mezebish (Westminster, Md./South Carroll) as both set personal-bests to claim the top two spots in the record book and qualify for the ECAC Championships. Daly, who placed 14th, takes the top spot with a time of 2:53.04 with Mezebish just back at 2:53.23. Sophomore Angelina Oputa (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) also set a new best by clocking in at 2:58.06 to claim the third-best time in school history.
Freshman Erick Soetje (Clarksburg, Md.) placed himself in the UMBC top-ten for the 400m run on Friday evening. Soetje finished 26th overall in the college event, crossing the line with a time of 49.54 to jump up to fourth in the record book. In the women's race, junior Kalane' Abbey (Laurel, Md./Laurel) set a season-best of 56.92.
In the sprints, junior Mercedes Jackson (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) set a season-best of 7.41 twice, advancing to the finals where she placed fourth overall. After running 7.51 in the prelims, Jackson clocked in at 7.41 in both the semifinals and finals.
Senior Kirsten Jones (Brentwood, Tenn./M.L.K. Magnet), who met the ECAC standard last week at Penn State, set a season-best in the 400m run with a time of 56.14.
Meanwhile, in the 500m run, senior Deborah Adelola (Lanham, Md./Bladensburg) placed sixth overall (1:15.10), while sophomore Marie Yuille (Boiwe, Md.) set a personal-best of 1:16.82 to grab the tenth-best time in school history.
In the shot put, junior Thor Serafenas (Olney, Md./Good Counsel/Clemson) posted a season-best of 14.86m (48'9.00").
