TRACK AND FIELD

LIU Competes at Metropolitan Championships

 

4/23/06 -- The Long Island University track and field program competed at the Metropolitan Championships, hosted by St. John’s University, this past weekend. The women’s team finished in third place with 80 points while the men took fourth with 72 points.

The reigning NEC Outdoor 100-meter dash champion Aisha Thomas (Jefferson City, Mo.) claimed second place in the event with a 12.50 time followed by Tavia Burke (St. Catherine, Jamaica), Eva Terry (Germantown, Md.) and Chioma Ukpai (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) in successive order. The four Blackbirds all posted ECAC qualifying times in the preliminaries. Thomas finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.48.

LIU was represented by four runners in the 800-meter run with senior Jaimie Smith (Burtonsville, Md.) pacing the Blackbirds and taking third in 2:15.35. Leslie Conley (Baltimore, Md.) finished in ninth, stopping the clock at 2:22.27. Senior Shayla Wallace (Sumter, S.C.) crossed the line in 2:26.06 and classmate Temi Akojie (Largo, Md.) closed in 2:27.81.

Ukpai ran the 100-meter hurdles in 14.79, taking first place and qualifying for ECAC competition. Burke also recorded an ECAC qualifying time in the prelims. Junior Morgan Gantt (Sicklerville, N.J.) notched a second place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:06.81. Fellow Garden State native Shaneqwa Warren (Roselle, N.J.) took third in 1:07.09.

On the men’s side, All-American Bryan Steele (Gaithersburg, Md.) finished the 400-meter dash in 47.95 and took first place. Following Steele was senior Michael Hillian (Voorhees, N.J.) in second place, clocking in at 48.15. Steele also competed in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing in the third position in 15.13.

Freshman Andre Marcano (Trinidad & Tobago) paced LIU in the 100-meter dash, posting a time of 11.21 and securing third place. Senior Jeremy Bascom (Brooklyn, N.Y.) closed one-second behind Marcano in fourth place.

Newcomer Shavar Clarke (Kingston, Jamaica) sailed to a first place finish in the 200-meter dash in 22.29. Bascom finished in third, crossing the line in 22.76.

The men's 4 x 800-meter relay team stopped the clock at 8:04.17 to take third.

The Blackbirds will compete in the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. April 26-29 before heading to Emmitsburg, Md. for the NEC Outdoor Championships May 6-7.