March 24, 2012

Complete Results

Reach T&F Contact Michael Stambaugh for more details by E-Mail

by Dan Ryan - www.B-CUathletics.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Survivors of Chaos; the Bethune-Cookman football rite of passage that cannot be adequately described with mere words; most usually spend a day or two attempting to recover. Angelo Cabrera's downtime involved setting a personal record in the 100 meter dash and posting two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championships qualifying times.

Cabrera's heroics, along with a MEAC record in the pole vault from Akeem Barthol, and victories from La'Quan Howard, Sasha Smallwood, Raven Thomas, Desiree Richardson and Latorria Grier highlighted the Wildcats' weekend at the Embry-Riddle Spikes Classic.

A freshman dual-sport sprinter, Cabrera clocked a 10.63 in his preliminary 100-meter heat Friday, while winds on Saturday slowed him to an 11.0 in his victorious final, also taking second in the 200 from the eighth lane on Saturday with a time of 21.88. Both times put him in next month's conference meet.

Chaos leaves many of its participants feeling as if they suffered a fate worse than death. Not Cabrera…nah, who are we kidding?

“I AM dead,” Cabrera said. “This weekend was hard work. We have some great coaches and some great trainers, and I'm thankful for them because they prepare us well for this.”

Cabrera didn't have much time to prepare for his 100 meter qualifier, literally going straight to his lane with no warm-up after his football responsibilities ended.

“I rushed over and hopped in there,” Cabrera said. “Just got out and ran. You're think about you didn't prepare, but at the same time, you have to think about just going out and doing your best. “

Cabrera barely made the 200 meter final, finishing eighth in Friday's preliminary, but regrouped for the second place finish Saturday.  

“I knew I had to get out early and stay out,” Cabrera said.

Joshua Perkins was edged by Cabrera with a time of 21.93.

Barthol delivered a highlight Friday by breaking the B-CU school record by clearing 4.55 meters in the vault.

Though good for only third in the meet, it was also a conference mark and paced five Wildcats (Michael Sullivan at 3.65 and Nnamdi Davis at 3.65) who qualified for the conference meet.  

The men registered a 1-2 finish in the 400 meters as Stephon Pamilton and Kemar Clarke clocked times of 53.65 and 55.46, respectively. Davis (58.60) and Riggins (58.62) were fourth and fifth.

Howard's triple of jump of 46 feet, 4.75 inches took top honors, while Robert Horton was third at 43-1. 

The 4 X 400m relay teams were also 1-2, as the “B” squad of Horton, Pamilton, Garrett Ellis and Cabrera outdistanced the “A” squad of Christopher Jackson, Perkins, Ricy Brown and Clarke 3:17.11 to 3:19.49.

Horton was fourth in the 400 (49.85) and Jaquell Phillip sixth in the 800 (2:03.15).

Smallwood cleared 3.55 meters to win the women's pole vault, while Elizabeth Sims (3.15) tied for third.

Thomas led a near-BCU sweep of the 200 meter top five as she clocked a 25.22, slightly slower than her 24.79 preliminary. Alonti Richardson (25.53), Sandricka Simmons (26.3) and Ayerial Rouse (26.63) took the third-fifth spots. 

Grier and Simmons led a 1-2 Lady Wildcat finish in the 400 with times of 1:05.33 and 1:06.11, respectively. Sims (1:08.80) was fourth and Haley Austin (1:16.94) eighth.

Desiree Richardson claimed the shot put with a toss of 12.72 meters.

Also winning was the Lady Wildcats' “A” squad in the 4 X400m with Simmons, Shakira Garner, LaShondra Wilbon and Rouse teaming up for a 3:56.69. In fourth was the “B” squad consisting of Alexus Grier, Thomas, Latorria Grier and Erika Graham, who turned in a 4:07.17.

In the 400, Rouse (59.35) was third, Ileis Figueroa (59.73) fourth, Morgan Brown (1:01.46) fifth, Graham (1:02.38) sixth and Alexandria Gilliam (1:03.93) eighth. 

Garner (12.5) and A. Richardson (12.62) were 2-3 in the 100 meter. Juliette Hyppolite (1.57 meters) and Cenita Sanders (10.46) second place marks in the high jump and shot put, respectively. 

 Thomas was fifth in the long jump (4.85 meters).

“We had a good weekend,” said Head Coach Donald Cooper. “Being able to see our athletes continue to progress was a great thing. We will just continue to do what we do with what we have and we will be okay.”

The Wildcats hit the track again next weekend in Jacksonville, taking another crack at the future site of the NCAA Outdoor East Regional in the Best Western/North Florida Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

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