PRINCETON, N.J. – Senior Cody Mezebish (Westminster, Md./South Carroll) lowered her own school record in the 800m run and two Retriever relay teams – the 4x100 and 4x400 squads – advanced to the event finals as the UMBC women's track and field team competed on the second day of the ECAC Championships, Saturday at William Weaver Track and Field Stadium.
Mezebish finished 15th out of 25 competitors, but snapped the school record for the fourth time this season. The senior crossed the line with a time of 2:09.35, over a second under her original school-best time of 2:10.68, which she took over on April 12 at the Mason Spring Invitational.
Senior Mercedes Jackson (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) advanced to the semifinals of the 100m dash, but fell just short of earning a spot in tomorrow's finals. Jackson placed 11th in the prelims with a time of 11.92, and then trimmed it to 11.89 in the semis, but placed ninth, just outside of the top-eight needed to advance. Pittsburgh's Jessica Tongue took the final spot with a time of 11.80 while VCU's Kiara Porter leads the group into the finals with a semis time of 11.52.
Jackson also helped the 4x100m relay team advance to tomorrow's finals, combining with freshman Mercedes Tillman (Waldorf, Md./North Point), sophomore Marie Yuille (Bowie, Md./Oakland Mills), and senior Kirsten Jones (Brentwood, Tenn./M.L.K. Magnet) for a time of 46.58 to finish second in heat two and seventh overall.
Yuille also competed in the 200m dash, finishing 26th out of 37 runners with a time of 24.78.
Later, Yuille led off for the 4x400 team, which also included juniors Pauletter Fogle (Washington, D.C./Bishop McNamara) and Briana Young (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton), and Jones, which advanced to tomorrow's final by finishing with a time of 3:45.37, the eighth-best on the day, and best Retriever time of the season.
Fogle also competed in the 400m hurdles and finished in 17th-place, just off of her school record pace with a time of 1:01.48.
In the 400m dash, senior Deborah Adelola (Lanham, Md./Bladensburg) placed 21st with a time of 57.15.
The 4x800 relay team of junior Sarah Daly (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion), sophomores Angelina Oputa (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) and Essence Fredericks (Baltimore, Md./Carver Center), and junior Mary Katherine Kulp (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) combined for a team-best 2014 time of 9:04.22, placing 15th.
Junior Alisha Beeman (Bridgeport, Conn./Bunnell/Hartford) competed in the javelin, an event in which she holds the school record, and placed 20th with a top throw on the day of 40.51m (132'11"). She will take part in the high jump on Sunday, which will start the final day of the ECAC meet at 10:00 a.m.
