GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats closed out competition at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday at Irwin Belk Track, nearly perfectly matching their program-best rankings from last season's outdoor and 2013 indoor championships, with the men finishing third and women sixth.
“I am extremely proud of both teams for their efforts and perseverance,” Head Coach Donald Cooper said. “Though we maintained our positions from the Indoor Championships, I'm not satisfied with it even though we did not perform at the level many expected us to.”
“We had point potential to win on the men's side and place third on the women's,” Cooper noted.
Sophomore Sasha Smallwood provided the Wildcats with their lone title in Saturday's finale, defending her pole vaulting title with a mark of 3.50m (11-05.75 ft.). Smallwood has now won the pole vault event at the MEAC Championships, both indoor and outdoor, in each season of her B-CU career.
On the men's side of the pole vault, B-CU logged three scoring performances, led by Akeem Barthol's second-place mark of 4.22m (13-10.00 ft.). Curtis Riggins finished fourth (3.92m/12-10.25 ft.), while Martin Embry III was sixth (3.52m/11-06.50 ft.).
Freshman Tristie Johnson turned in an outstanding first outdoor MEAC performance, finishing third in the 200m with a wind-aided 23.21, joining the group of six athletes who broke the standing MEAC record on the day. Johnson also made an impression in the 100m, coming in fourth in 11.62 seconds.
In the men's 100m, Tremayne Banks (10.54) and Angelo Cabrera (10.58) added to B-CU's point total with finishes of sixth and eighth, respectively. Banks also ran a time of 14.31 in the 110m hurdles to finish seventh and add to the total.
La'Quan Howard added another top-tier performance for the Wildcats in the triple jump, finishing third with a leap of 14.70m (48-02.75 ft.). Meanwhile, Jimel Wright finished ninth with a distance of 14.18m (46-06.25 ft.). In the women's triple jump, Rayanna Johnson came in 11th with a distance of 11.18m (36-08.25 ft.)
After finishing second in the 5,000m on Friday, senior Kadian Dunkley put up some solid scoring in her final MEAC outdoor meet, earning second in the 3,000m steeplechase, logging a time of 11:20.32. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native also put up a time of 4:42.64 in the 1,500m for fourth place.
The men's lone performer for the Wildcats on Saturday, Ricy Brown logged a time of 4:04.76 to finish sixth in the event.
The women's 4 x 100m relay squad, composed of Keyona Thomas, T. Johnson, Shakira Garner and Breonca Reid, combined for a time of 46.43 to finish fifth; B-CU's highest finish in the relays. The men's 4 x 100m (of Banks, Cabrera, Darnell Washington and Embry) finished eighth in 41.96.
In the 4 x 400m relays, the women again topped the team with a squad of Garner, T. Johnson, Thomas and Dunkley, which finished eighth in 3:53.84. The men's squad (of Embry, Joshua Perkins, Brown and Banks was 11th in 3:21.76.
The women's team finished sixth in total team scoring, logging 61 points, falling just behind Norfolk State at 62 points. The women finished seventh in last year's outdoor championships. The men took the lead briefly on Saturday, but finished the day in third with 64 points, matching last year's ranking, which was the best finish in the past 10 seasons.
“We had some people to step up and carry the team when others struggled,” Cooper commented “This means we are contenders, and we will continue to work until we can present the Wildcat Nation with a championship.”
The Wildcats continue to work toward NCAA qualifications with the Georgia Tech Invitational up next week in Atlanta (May 10-11).
“We now focus our attention to NCAA Championships,” Cooper said. “Tristie Johnson is positioned solidly in the 100m and 200m, while Sasha Smallwood, Keron Stoute, Tremayne Banks and Angelo Cabrera have the opportunity to join her if they can move up in the standings next weekend at Georgia Tech.”
As always, Cooper is fully prepared to share credit, and frequently acknowledges that the improvement in the program is always bigger than one person, coach or athlete. This Championships event was no different.
“I want to thank the administration, assistant coaches, trainers, strength coaches and our academic support team for their diligent efforts which allowed us to have a successful season,” Cooper said.
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