Terrapin Invitational Results
Landover, Md.-- The UMBC men's and women's track and field teams took to Landover to compete in the Terrapin Invitational. Several Retrievers qualified for ECAC/IC4A competition on the day.
A quartet of UMBC men finished in the top five of the 400m dash. Erick Soetje finished second in the event, with a time of 50.28. Niko Coaxum (3rd, 51.35), John Oputa (4th, 51.42), and Darrius Oxley (5th, 51.66) rounded out the top finishers in the event for the Retrievers.
James Oakley III took home a second place finish in the 200m dash, crossing the tape in 22.69. Other top UMBC finishers included Austin Hayslett, who finished third in the 5000m run (15:36.17), and Ehab Abutaleb who finished the 60m hurdles in fifth (9.08).
The Retrievers were led by another strong performance by Yao Adantor. The senior tossed a 16.98m in the shot put, which shattered his previous school record of 16.88m. The throw by Yao also qualifies him for a spot in the ECAC/IC4A championship later this winter. Thor Serafenas took gold in the weighted throw, tossing a 16.28m.
On the women's side, Julie Gessler and Paulette Fogle each took home victories in the 5000m and 400m respectively. Gessler crossed the tape in a time of 17:42.90, a personal record for Julie. Paulette won the 400m dash in 57.41.
The 4x400m relay squad took home second place with a time of 3:54.58. The quartet was made up of Fogle, Kalane' Abbey, Funmi Daramola, and Briana Young.
Two Retriever women qualified for ECAC/IC4A competition as well. Mercedes Jackson took second in the 60m dash in a time of 7.61, while Alisha Beeman finished fourth in the high jump, with a jump of 1.71m.
UMBC is back on the track next Friday, January 23 at the Metro Team Challenge. The meet begins at 10 a.m in New York, N.Y.
