Women Take Third, Men Seventh at NEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships

(Women's Results)
(Men's Results)

5/6/07 -- The Long Island University women’s track and field team finished third and the men’s team took seventh at the 2007 Northeast Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Junior Aisha Thomas (Jefferson City, Mo.) and sophomore Tavia Burke (St. Catherine, Jamaica) once again turned in performances of a high quality and were honored as the meet’s co-Most Outstanding Track Performers.

Burke and Thomas finished first and second, respectively, in the 200-meter dash, with Burke crossing the line at 25.26. Thomas was right behind her at 25.63. Burke also claimed first place in the 100-meter hurdles with an ECAC Championship-qualifying time of 14.27.

Thomas took home the gold in the 400-meter dash, running to a 55.02 finish. Junior Crystal Strachan finished third with a mark of 55.38 and sophomore Denele DeVerteuil (Arima, Trinidad and Tobago) placed fifth with a time of 56.35. All three marks qualified for the ECACs.

Burke took second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.35. Freshman Aniecia Williams (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands) had a similar finish in the 800-meter run with a mark of 2:17.64. In the 400-meter hurdles, junior Qiana Smith (Brooklyn, N.Y.) earned a bronze with a time of 1:02.89.

The Blackbird women took second in both the 4x100-meter (47.27) and 4x400-meter (3:53.75) relays to go along with their second-place finish in the 4x800-meter relay from the first day of competition.

Sophomore Heather Patton (Bowie, Md.) earned the gold in the triple jump with a leap of 11.55 meters. Long Island also had a strong showing in the long jump, with junior Shelby Heggie (Laramie, Wyo.) and Patton placing second and third, respectively. Heggie leapt to a 1.67-meter mark, while Patton turned in a jump of 1.64 meters.

Long Island finished with 135 points, while Monmouth claimed the championship with 146.16 points.

On the men’s side, the team of sophomores Marlon Martin (Kingstown, St. Vincent), Andre Marcano (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago), Shavar Clarke (Kingston, Jamaica) and freshman Norman Simms (Upper Marlboro, Md.) placed first in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 41.18.

Marcano took second in the 100-meter dash, finishing just five-hundredths of a second behind Sacred Heart’s Arman Dixon with a mark of 10.80. The time qualified Marcano for the IC4A Championships. Clarke took third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.53. In the 400-meter hurdles, senior Rodney Daniel (Brooklyn, N.Y.) placed fourth with a time of 54.79.

Long Island finished seventh with 50 points, while Monmouth took first with 168.50 points.