Boston, Mass. – UMBC track and field took part in the first day of the America East Indoor Championships this Friday, in which they qualified for multiple finals for Saturday's competition.

Leading the charge for the Retrievers was junior Jamal Cody who qualified second in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.18.  Cody also qualified for the 400m dash finals with an eighth-place finish (49.11).  Senior John Oputa also qualified for tomorrow's finals with a time of 49.10 to qualify seventh.

Oputa earned a spot in the 200m dash finals as well, taking eighth with a time of 21.96.  This time was the ninth best time in school history.

Sophomore Michael Parkent threw a distance of 16.09m in the weight toss to take seventh place.  His distance was also his the school's ninth best in history.

The women were led in the 400m dash, racking up three qualifiers for tomorrow's finals.  Junior Amani Wallace took third with the school's eighth best time in the event (56.79), while senior Funmi Daramola and freshman Collese Daley took seventh and eighth with season best times of 57.60 and 57.93.

Daramola also had a strong showing in the 200m dash, qualifying in fourth with a time of 24.68.  Sophomore Tori Johnson took first place in her heat, and third overall in the 500m dash to advance to finals, crossing the line in 1:15.75.

Rounding out the women was the distance medley team, consisting of Kaya Knake, Ariella Garcia, Bridgett Redding, and Briana Roberts, which took fourth place with a time of 11:55.88. 

Both the men and women are currently in ninth place heading into Saturday.

UMBC will return to action tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. to complete the Indoor Championships, which can be seen live on AmericaEast.tv.