Steele, Blackbirds Dominate at Metropolitan Championships

4/15-16/05 -- Junior Bryan Steele (Gaithersburg, Md.) won the 200-meter dash and 110-meter hurdles, and took second in the 100-meter dash for Long Island at the Metropolitan Championships at St. John’s University on Friday and Saturday.

Steele finished the 200 meters in 21.65 seconds to qualify for the IC4A Championships, the 110-meter hurdles in 15.04 and the 100 meters in 11.11 seconds. Senior Allandro Pierre (Brooklyn, N.Y.) closed just behind Steele at the 110-meter hurdles in 15.12 seconds. He also won the 400-meter hurdles, crossing the line in 54.30 seconds.

Junior Michael Hillian (Voorhees, N.J.) became the third Blackbird to capture a title as he finished the 400-meter dash in 48.99 seconds. Classmate Jabari Bush (Baltimore, Md.) closed just behind him in 49.48 seconds for second place and Hillian also anchored the 4x100 meter relay squad, which captured first in 41.82 seconds.

Senior Floyd Mayne (Uniondale, N.Y.) continued to build on his impressive season. He took third in the 10,000-meter run in 31:36.20, the first time he competed in the event, and fifth in the 800-meter dash by crossing the line in 1:56.61.

Sophomore Chad Miller (Silver Spring, Md.) secured points for the Blackbirds by placing second in the long jump with a leap of 6.81 meters and junior Roshawn Aberdeen (Brentwood, N.Y.) finished second in the 400-meter hurdles. Junior Jabari Bush (Baltimore, Md.) ended second in the 400-meter dash and senior Antonio Thomas (Baltimore, Md.) closed third in the 100 and the 200-meter dashes.

Their efforts helped the men's squad close in second place for the second straight year with 129 points.

For the women, senior N’Kelle Anderson (Forestville, Md.) had an all around solid meet. She placed second in the long jump with a leap of 5.66 meters and fourth in the triple jump, registering an 11.54 meter jump. Anderson also captured third in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:03.51.

Freshman Aisha Thomas (Jefferson City, Mo.) took second in the 100-meter dash in 12.31 seconds and second in the 200-meter dash in 24.74 seconds for LIU, which closed the meet fifth.

The women’s 4x400-meter relay squad captured second in 3:51.47. Freshman Crystal Strachan (Grand Bahama, Bahamas) finished fourth at the 400-meter dash in 57.67 seconds, sophomore Janel McFarlane (Kensington, Md.) closed just behind her in 58.48 seconds and junior Temi Akojie (Largo, Md.) ran fifth in the 800-meter dash.

Next up for the Blackbirds is the Penn Relays in Philadelphia from April 28-30.