BALTIMORE – Both of the 4x100m relay teams took the top spot in the respective events and multiple other Retrievers earned event victories as the UMBC track and field hosted the Big Dawg Invitational, Saturday at a rain-soaked UMBC Stadium.
The day was cut short, however, as the meet was called at 3:10 p.m. due to heavy rains and impending lightning in the Baltimore area.
Sophomore Redatu Semeon (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) opened the day in fine fashion for the Retrievers, winning the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 9:30.20.
The UMBC women's 4x100 continued the winning as freshman Mercedes Tillman (Waldorf, Md./North Point), junior Mercedes Jackson (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown), sophomore D'Nique Phillip (Elkton, Md./North East), and junior Briana Young (Bowie, Elizabeth Seton) combined for an ECAC-qualifying time of 47.46.
Jackson later took the top spot in the prelims of the 100m (12.04) and then earned the win in the finals (12.35). She was not able to compete in the 200m dash due to the weather. Sophomore Marie Yuille (Bowie, Md./Oakland Mills) took second in the 100m dash.
Young, meanwhile, recorded a career-best run in the 400m hurdles, clocking in at 1:05.51, to place second and take the eighth spot in the Retriever record book. In the men's event, junior Charles Bolinger (Bowie, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) finished second and senior John Rybak (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) took fourth.
The men's relay team then took to the track with sophomore Afees Abolurin (Baltimore, Md./Milford Mill) working with seniors Dosu Teyibo (Silver Spring, Md./Barrie), Sean Cooper (Waldorf, Md./North Point/Delaware State), and Dennison Long (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt/FIU) to construct a winning time of 41.89 and meet the IC4A standard.
In the field events, junior Alisha Beeman (Bridgeport, Conn./Bunnell/Hartford) captured the top spot in the high jump for the second straight weekend. After besting the field last week at the FSU Relays, Beeman cleared 1.60m (5'3") to win in Baltimore. Senior Mo Drammeh (Frederick, Md./Thomas Johnson) made it a sweep by tying for the top spot in the men's event by clearing 1.90m (6'2.75").
Junior Thor Serafenas (Olney, Md./Good Counsel/Clemson) also picked up a victory at the home meet, taking top honors in the men's hammer throw with a heave of 54.61m (179'2"), an IC4A-worthy distance. Senior Ray Stinsman III (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) took third with a throw of 47.91m (157'2").
In the women's event, sophomore Nneoma Edokobi (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery) placed second, but set a new personal-best with a toss of 43.03m (141'2") to jump up to sixth all-time in the Retriever record book. Senior Heidi Danielsson (Jonkoping, Sweden/Sanda) also competed, finishing sixth with a top toss of 29.39m (96'5").
Sophomore Vincent Rentzsch (Oranienburg, Germany/Elite Sportschule Potsdam) took the top spot in the javelin once again, topping the field with a throw of 58.49m (191'10"), while senior Sean Kshmetski (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) placed third (46.04m; 151'0").
In the discus, senior Yao Adantor (Laurel, Md./Reservoir/Morgan St./Maryland) recorded a toss of 43.63m (143'1") to place second while Serafenas placed fourth (42.52m; 139'6").
Senior Trae Proctor (Brandywine, Md./Thomas Stone) sprinted past the field in the prelims of the 110m hurdles (14.27), and then replicated his feat to take the win in the finals (14.40).
In the 800m run, junior Mary Katherine Kulp (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) placed second with a career-best time of 2:18.47 to move up to seventh in the all-time records. Classmate Sarah Daly (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) excelled in the 1,500m, finishing second, but moving up to fourth in the UMBC record book with a time of 4:39.58.
Freshman Abigale Slonski (Griswold, Conn./Griswold) claimed the ninth spot on the UMBC all-time list for the long jump with a leap of 5.05m (16'7").
The Retrievers will head south once again next week (April 4-5) as the team splits up to compete at the Pepsi Florida Relays at the University of Florida and the Colonial Relays at William and Mary.
