JCSU Women's Outdoor Track and Field Crowned 2014 CIAA Champions

ETTRICK, Virginia  – The Johnson C. Smith University women's outdoor track and field team wins the 2014 CIAA Championship during the Spring Sports Festival held Saturday, April 19th on the campus of VSU. JCSU recorded 132 team points to edge Saint Augustine's University, who had 131 points. This is the second consecutive championship for the Golden Bulls and the team's third title in four years (2011, 2013, and 2014).

"It was a very tough championship for us, St. Aug had a lot of talented athletes, but we dug deep and pulled it out; it was a total team effort," said JCSU head coach Lennox Graham. "I'm very proud of the whole team: the student-athletes, my assistant coaches, the athletic training staff, and our massage therapist; again it was a total team effort."

Senior sprinter Danielle Williams (St. Andrew, Jamaica) was named the 2014 Women's Outdoor Track MVP. The Golden Bulls won six overall events, including four individual event titles en route to the championship victory. Williams won the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 100 meters hurdles events. She had a time of 11.71 in the 100m dash, 23.49 in the 200m dash, and 14.09 in the 100m hurdles. Those victories produced 30 points towards the team score.



Junior thrower Imeshia Jones (Reidsville, NC) won the javelin event with a toss of 37.06m. Jones has won the javelin event for the third consecutive season. She also placed sixth in the shot put event with a throw of 11.11m.

The Golden Bulls also won the 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay events. In the 4x100m relay, the team of sophomore Shamaz Quince (West Palm Beach), Williams, sophomore Trudy-Ann Richards (St. Thomas, Jamaica), and senior Samantha Elliott (Kingston, Jamaica) finished first with a time of 45.09. The 4x400m relay team of senior A'Tyan Kennedy (Rock Hill, SC), sophomore Tovea Jenkins (St. James, Jamaica), freshman Crystal Campbell (St. Catherine, Jamaica), and Williams ran a season best 3:40.68 to win the event.

In addition to Williams winning the 100m hurdles, Elliott (14.11) and Kennedy (15.01) finished second and fourth, respectively in the event. Richards finished sixth in both the 100m (12.28) and the 200m (25.02) events.

Jenkins set a new JCSU school record with her second place time of 53.48 in the 400m. Elliott placed fourth in the 400m with a time of 54.70. Elliott ran 1:00.27 for second in the 400m hurdles. Campbell and Kennedy placed fifth (1:03.22) and sixth (1:03.99), respectively in the 400m hurdles.

Freshman Domenique Julius-Williams (Ontario, Canada) placed third in the 1500m (4:52.57) and fifth in the 800m (2:19.03) for her conference championship debut.

In the field, senior Shaquitta Anderson (Orangeburg, SC) and freshman Sara Louis (West Palm Beach, FL) placed sixth and seventh in the javelin. Anderson had a throw of 28.10m, followed by Louis' toss of 25.95m in the event. Senior Bianca Parker (New Castle, DE) had a heave of 29.99m in the discus for eighth place.

In addition to 4x100m relay duty, Quince also impressively finished fifth (11.14m) in the triple jump and eighth (5.40m) in the long jump. Anderson also competed in the high jump and placed eighth (1.44m).

Team points were assessed based on the following finishes:
1st place (10 points), 2nd place (8 points), 3rd place (6 points), 4th place (5 points), 5th place (4 points), 6th place (3 points), 7th place (2 points), and 8th place (1 point).

The Golden Bulls will travel to Philadelphia, PA for the 2014 Penn Relays held at Franklin Field. Events are scheduled for April 24-26.

COURTESY JOHNSON C. SMITH UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION