Enazajah Young Tabbed Outstanding Rookie, UMBC Places Second at AE Outdoor Championships

LOWELL, Mass. - The UMBC women's track & field team took home a second-place finish at the America East Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Massachusetts this weekend. The Retrievers totaled 142 points as they grabbed just their second second-place finish in America East Outdoor Championship history. UAlbany took the team title.

Enazajah Young made it a clean sweep of the Outstanding Rookie major awards, bringing home UMBC's first major award in outdoor since Caitlyn Bobb was named Outstanding Track Performer in 2022.

Young's dominance continued as she flew to victory in the 100-meter hurdles, setting a program and meet record in the event with a time of 13.35. Young beat out her own program record and Antoinette Galloway's meet record by .09 seconds.

The Retrievers finished the day on the track with gold in the 4x400, as Anna Creel, Leanne McDonald, Dalyce Schmidt, and Lily Bandy bested Binghamton by more than two seconds to win it with a time of 3:43.43.

In the field, Ava Roberts was her normal dominant self, taking gold with a meet record throw of 16.18 meters in the shot put. Roberts cleared Shelby Bigsbee's AE Champ record by nearly a full meter.

Janine Amefia set a UMBC program record in the triple jump to earn gold, leaping 12.42 meters, breaking Jasmine Holland's program record of 12.39 meters set in 2022.

UMBC grabbed a pair of silvers in the relays, starting the day on the track off with a second-place finish in the 4x100. Young, Bandy, Charliana Dacosta, and Creel combined for silver with a time of 45.88, the fastest time of the year in the event and third-fastest since 2010.

The 4x800 relay also took silver, as Lydia Nelson, Lily Strelecki, Katelyn Deal, and Katie Schwaner clocked a time of 9:04.94 to earn eight points. The time was UMBC's eighth-fastest since 2010.

McDonald ran to silver in the 400, clocking a time of 55.76 to earn eight points. Schwaner picked up her first medal of the day in the 800, finishing in 2:10.42, just shy of Vermont's Rachel Barba to take silver and grab eight points for UMBC. Bandy kept on piling up points for UMBC, taking silver in the 200 with a time of 23.88, improving on her personal best to stay in third on the all-time performance list. Roberts made it an 18-point day, taking second in the discus throw as she reset the UMBC program record with a throw of 52.65 meters.

Creel finished just shy of McDonald in the 400, earning bronze with a time of 55.94 seconds. Marie Abongwa picked up a bronze medal in the shot put with a 13.54-meter throw, edging out teammate Chia Nwankwo, who grabbed fourth with a 13.52-meter toss.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Marie Abongwa: Throws; Senior

Janine Amefia: Jumps; Sophomore

Anna Creel: Sprints; Sophomore

Charliana Dacosta: Sprints; Junior

Katelyn Deal: Mid-Distance; Junior

Leanne McDonald: Sprints; Senior

Lydia Nelson: Distance; Sophomore

Chia Nwankwo: Throws; Graduate Student

Ava Roberts: Throws; Graduate Student

Dalyce Schmidt: Sprints; Junior

Players Mentioned

Marie Abongwa
: Senior
: Throws

Janine Amefia
: Sophomore
: Jumps

Anna Creel
: Sophomore
: Sprints

Charliana Dacosta
: Junior
: Sprints

Katelyn Deal
: Junior
: Mid-Distance

Leanne McDonald
: Senior
: Sprints

Lydia Nelson
: Sophomore
: Distance

Chia Nwankwo
: Graduate Student
: Throws

Ava Roberts
: Graduate Student
: Throws

Dalyce Schmidt
: Junior
: Sprints