5
For the first time in recent memory, the UMBC Indoor Track and Field teams will be splitting by gender to attend two local meets this weekend. The women will travel to the Prince George Sports and Learning Complex for the Terrapin Invite while the men will travel to a small, five team meet at the Naval Academy. Mercedes Jackson opened in fine form last weekend opening with a 7.48 in the 60 meter dash, good enough for a national ranking of 19 th after the first weekend of competition. This weekend she will be joined by Kirsten Jones and Nailah Johnson who each will be looking to move up into the AEC top ten. Also watch for the combination of Paultte Fogle, Deborah Adelola, Mercedes Tillman, and Kalane Abbey in the 400m, as all four should put up a Top 10 time in the AEC. For the men, look for the combo of Sean Cooper and T.J. Ford to double up with performances in the 60 meter and 200 meter dashes. In the longer sprints, freshmen Erick Soetje and Darius Oxley will be representing UMBC in the 400 meters looking to make a mark. The 5k is a loaded event this weekend with nine men and women taking the line at the Terrapin Invite. The leading 3k runners from a week ago for the women will be working together to see if they can get under the 18 minute barrier while the men will be attempting to sneak under fifteen minutes. More fireworks should be set off at the Naval Academy as three of the fastest mid-distance runners in school history in Jake Albino, Andrew Smith, and Andrew Keresztes will be working together to push the limits in the 1,000 meters before doubling back with Charles Bolinger (800m) in the 4x800m relay. A skeleton group in the field events this weekend with only the women throwers entering the circle. Currently sophomore Nmeoma Edokobi sits second in the Conference in the shot put and holds down a top ten position in the weight throw. Also in the top ten in the weight throw is Jenn Nelson who is currently ranked seventh in the Conference. Freshmen Abigail Slonski will be attempting to compete in all three jumping events (long, triple, and high) and will be joined by Alisha Beeman in the long and the high jump. Performances will be at a premium this weekend as the team will whittle down to a travel squad as the more competitive meets of the season open up next weekend when the Retrievers head up to the New York City armory. 2013-14 Indoor Schedule: December 7th, 2013 Bison Opener Bucknell University January 11th, 2014 Penn State Relays Penn State University January 18th, 2014 Terrapin Invite/Navy Quad PGSLC January 24th, 2014 NYC Team Challenge NYC Armory January 25th, 2014 Patriot Games George Mason Invite Jan. 31st- Feb. 1st, 2014 Penn State National Invite Penn State University February 7th-8th, 2014 Armory Collegiate Invite NYC Armory February 14th, 2014 Rider/Lafayette Invite NYC Armory February 23rd-24th, 2014 America East Championships NYC Armory March 8th-9th, 2014 IC4A/ECAC Championships Boston University March 14th-15th, 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships Albuquerque, NM Penn State Relays: Mercedes Jackson qualified for the ECAC Championships in both the 60 meter dash (2 nd ) and the 200 meter dash (3 rd ). Cody Mezebish breaks the school record in the 1,000m dash (2:56.58). Sarah Daly runs #3 All Time Mark and Angelina Oputa runs #8 Erick Soetje moves up to #9 All Time in the 500 meters with a 1:05.71 mark Kirsten Jones earned an ECAC qualification in the 500 meters going 1:15.6 Andrew Smith slid into the Top Ten with a 4:17.6 (#7) in the mile Hassan Omar recorded the sixth fastest 3,000 meters going 8:30.71 The women’s 4x400m relay of Mercedes Tillman, Deborah Adelola, Kirsten Jones, and Paulette Fogle set the Conference lead of 3:50.42 Cody Mezebish Having flirted with the school record in both the indoor and outdoor 800m last season, Mezebish moved up to the 1000m in her opening meet this year. In the process she smashed the old school record by nearly two seconds and almost qualified for the ECAC Championships. Navy pent/terrapin invite Meet Preview
