Coppin State: 40-foot triple jump has Jennifer Mitchell in rarefied air

Jennifer Mitchell, a 16-year old early graduate of Newburgh Free Academy and holder of the school record in the Triple Jump has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Coppin State University in the Fall. Mitchell selected the Eagles over North Carolina A&T State University.

MIDDLETOWN, NY — Jennifer Mitchell of Newburgh Free Academy (Newburgh, NY) has become an assassin on the triple jump runways. At the Section 9 indoor Class A championships, Mitchell edged out Sara Wickes of Monroe-Woodbury for the title on her final jump. At Friday's sectional outdoor state qualifier, Soroya Hudson of Cornwall had already broken the Section 9 outdoor mark when Mitchell unleashed the first 40-foot jump in section history, at 40 and 11/4 inches. That is the second-best jump in the state, trailing only Penn State-bound Marlene Ricketts of Westbury (Nassau County) at 42-4 (tops in the country). Mitchell's jump is 24th in the nation.

"That's amazing,'' Mitchell said of her feat. "I couldn't ask for anything more.''

The triple jump is perhaps the most competitive of all girls' events this season with four athletes ranked in the top 13 in the state, and all over 37 feet. Hudson will also advance to next week's state meet at 39-6 (three inches better than former record holder Dana Weeks of Washingtonville) but Wickes gets nothing for her 38-8 effort.

Mitchell jumped 38-8 in the indoor Class A meet and won the state indoor public school title (she was second in the Federation) at 38-51/2. Mitchell thought she would be able to carry that over to outdoors but she started the season in the 33-34-foot range. Before the championship season, her best marks had only reached 37 while Hudson was soaring, making Mitchell a little nervous.

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Note: Jennifer Mitchell's record 40 feet, 11/4 inch Triple Jump is better than Florida A&M's incoming freshman Cynia Clark of Lithonia, Georgia Redan High School. The 18 year old Clark is the Georgia Division 5A-- 2009 State Champion in the Triple Jump with a distance of 38-03.

Florida A&M Inks State Champion Brittany Jones

A lot of what was said about Brittany Jones’ ability as a runner was like old hat to her parents, as they flanked their daughter Tuesday morning at Rickards High School when she signed to run for Florida A&M University. Joseph and Stephanie Jones have been hearing their daughter referred to as a “phenomenal athlete” and “future Olympian” for several years. The first time the Joneses heard such glowing description of their daughter, she was just a middle school runner.

They got their first glimpse of things to come when Brittany ran the anchor leg to bring her Fairview Middle School team from the back of the pack to a second-place finish. Since then, she’s captured countless ribbons and trophies and even won a state high school title in the 300-meter hurdles for the Raiders last season. Her signing to attend FAMU makes her the third Rickards athlete to become a Rattler within a week. She also had offers from Georgia Southern and the University of North Florida. “I’m very thankful for this opportunity,” Jones told the audience that included classmates, coaches and several Rickards administrators. “I want to thank my parents. They’ve been very supportive and they’ve been with me from Day One.”

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Ex-Howard Bison athlete captures bronze in hurdles

It wasn't that long ago that David Oliver was an afterthought on the U.S. track team, a hurdler who went unrecognized by television analysts when he finally won a major race. "A nobody," he said. But Thursday night, the 26-year-old Denver East High School (and Howard University) graduate stood on a podium in National Stadium, a 2008 Olympic bronze medal hanging around his neck, eight years after a college scholarship seemed beyond his grasp.

"They only pass out three of these every four years, so to be one of the people who've got one is definitely an accomplishment in itself," Oliver said. "To get one of them (means) you'll always be remembered." Once Chinese superhero Liu Xiang pulled out of a preliminary heat with a foot injury, the race lost its luster in China. But Cuba's Dayron Robles, the world record-holder, ran a remarkable 12.93 seconds to take the gold.

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Brisco's drive on track leads him to chase his goals at DSU

Despite finishing in the top half of the field, recently graduated Cape Henlopen High hurdler Isaiah Brisco didn't perform as well as he would have liked in the Nike Outdoor Nationals, held June 19-21 at Greensboro, N.C. He finished 13th among 32 participants in the 400-meter hurdles, and finished last in a field of 22 in the 110 hurdles.

But Brisco will have plenty of chances to improve on his times in the next four years. Best of all, his friends and family won't have to travel far to see this year's winner of the Thomas H. Fort Award, given to the state's most valuable performer in boys high school outdoor track and field as voted on by Delaware high school head coaches.

After winning the 110- and 300-meter hurdles in the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Meet of Champions as a senior, Brisco will attend Delaware State University this fall.

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Hampton U's Briggs jumps to title at Nike Outdoor Nationals

Recent Booker T. Washington graduate DeShana Briggs,will attend Hampton University this fall, won the high jump at the Nike Outdoor Nationals.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - DeShana Briggs and Marlena Wesh came to Nike Outdoor Nationals this weekend hoping to make a statement. Both dominated opponents in Virginia but they wanted to see how they would fare on the national level. Both left satisfied.

Briggs, a recent Booker T. Washington grad, won her first national title when she cleared 5 feet, 8 ½ inches to win the high jump.

“She made goals for herself all season,” Booker T. Washington coach Yolanda Penn said about Briggs. “She got the district title, the region title, the state title and placed third at the indoor national meet. But this was her last time competing as a high school athlete. And I told her it was now or never for a national title and she went out there and competed.”

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Hampton University hire has good track record

Hampton University is turning to an area high school coaching legend to revive its men's track and field program. Steve Lewis was hired Thursday as the Pirates' head coach, replacing Emmanuel Daux — the interim coach this past year. Daux was an assistant to Enrique German, fired in June 2007 after two years as coach.

Lewis, 65, brings a sterling resume to his new position. He guided his teams to 10 Virginia High School League state titles from 1970-82: one at Mathews and nine at Menchville. He left his post at Menchville in 1982 to coach at the University of Pittsburgh, where he also was hugely successful before his release in 2002. He began as an assistant, became the women's head coach in 1984 and was promoted to men's and women's head coach in 1995.

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Bethune Cookman's Ash finishes third in NCAA's

DES MOINES, Iowa - After finishing fourth in the semifinals Friday evening, Bethune-Cookman University freshman track runner Ronnie Ash took third place in Saturday men's 100-meter hurdles finals at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Ash turned in his second-best performance of the season with a time of 13.59 seconds.

File photo courtesy of Nigel Cook/News-Journal.

The third-place time was also good enough for Ash to collect All-America honors. He is the first recorded freshman All-American in Bethune-Cookman history. The last All-American performer for Bethune-Cookman was at the 2006 NCAA Indoor Championships when Lewis Brown earned the award following an eighth-place finish in the triple jump.

Ash's time of 13.59 was behind second-place competitor Ty Akins (13.46) of Auburn and the winner Jason Richardson (13.40) from South Carolina.

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The Natural: B-CU star has found competitive spirit

DAYTONA BEACH -- Ronnie Ash can't really explain his reluctance to play organized sports. Like a homecoming queen playing hard-to-get, he rebuffed his high school suitors year after year.

Basketball coaches, football coaches -- you name it -- they all drooled when they saw the lithe 6-foot-3, 190-pounder ambling down the hallways. They all recruited. They were all rejected, until Knightdale, N.C., High School track coach David Castell finally got a bite in Ash's senior year and was able to reel him in.

Now a freshman at Bethune-Cookman, Ash's rapid rise in track and field might even astound all of the spurned coaches who envisioned greatness for this young man. Ash will compete in the 110-meter hurdles at the NCAA Division I track and field championships this week at Des Moines, Iowa.

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2008 MEAC Track and Field Slide Show

The following slide show was created and produced by Mark's Digital Sports Photography and can be viewed in plasma screen clarity with digital surround-sound at: http://suttonm.wordpress.com, Mark's Digital Photography Blog.

Please bookmark Mark's Digital Photography Blog for the very best in MEAC sports action photography. Mark's Digital Photography covers all sporting events for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and he is a great friend of MEAC/SWAC Sports Main Street Blog. Contact Mark Sutton for all your photography needs @ http://www.msuttonphoto.com/main.html



2007 MEAC Football


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Hampton University Lady Pirates win sixth straight MEAC Track Title, HU men finish third

Photo: Francena McCorory, sophomore, Hampton, VA Bethel H.S.

Hampton University sophomore Francena McCorory clocked the fastest collegiate 400-meter time in nation this season on Saturday, when she ran 51.54 seconds to win the event at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference track and field meet in Baltimore.

BALTIMORE, MD – The Lady Pirates did it again!

For the sixth consecutive year, the Hampton University women’s track and field team captured the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship. This time around, they did it in a dramatic fashion.

Sitting in fifth place after the first two days of the championships, which were being contested at Hughes Stadium on the campus of Morgan State University, the Lady Pirates slowly edged their way into the lead over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore but found their margin at a mere three points entering the meet’s final event, the 4x400 meter relay. In that decisive event, Hampton rolled to a first place victory, leaving no doubt that the league’s powerhouse program still resides in Hampton, Virginia.

“Entering the championship, we did a quick score projection and figured we’d win by 13 or 15 points,” said HU head coach Maurice Pierce, “but we made some mistakes. It was a dogfight throughout the meet. Winning it is a sign of us being a true champion and of the great track and field teams in this conference.

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FAMU signs Atlanta's Shauib Winters

The FAMU track team signed Atlanta distance standout Shauib Winters to a national letter-of-intent, the Rattlers announced Wednesday.

He won distance titles in the Southern Indoor Nationals in 2006 and 2007 while taking eighth and the AAU Junior Olympics. He also won the men's 5,000 meters at the Morehouse College Relays and took third in the men's 3,000 at the Ed Temple Indoor Track Classic at Tennessee State.

His best times are 4:30 in the 1,600, 9:14 in the 3,000, 9:47 in the 3,200 and 15:43 in the 5,000.

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SCSU revives "Jet" Invitational

Aside from making the program competitive again, reviving the Robert “Jet” Johnson Invitational was one of Tyree Price’s goals in his first season as S.C. State track and field coach.

After a one-year hiatus, the event named after the S.C. State Athletic Hall of Famer returned Saturday to the Lorry H. Dawkins Track Facility as part of a busy athletic day on the campus. A total of six schools, including Claflin, Benedict, Queens College out of North Carolina, Voorhees and Morehouse College, and former track and field athletes from S.C. State and the University of South Carolina took part in the 18-event meet.

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Former FAMU's Hicks moves to Eugene, Oregon with hopes of regaining spot among 800’s elite

Photo: Miami, Florida native Kevin Hicks; Career Highlights: 2005 USA Indoor champion; 3rd at 2005 USA Outdoors; 2nd at NCAA Outdoors.

Three years ago, Kevin Hicks was one of the rising stars in U.S. track and field.

The Florida A&M sophomore won the NCAA indoor title in the 800 meters, took second at the NCAA outdoor meet with a time of 1 minute, 44.94 seconds, and placed third at the U.S. outdoor championships to earn a trip to Helsinki for the 2005 World Championships. The future looked bright for Hicks.

He was ranked third in the U.S. in the 800 by Track & Field News, and his exploits were being compared to the school’s two former Olympians — the late Bob Hayes (1964) and Rey Robinson (1972), the present FAMU coach.

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Bethune Cookman coach on track to better things

Photo: Bethune Cooman University head track and field coach Garfield Ellenwood.

The odds were not in Garfield Ellenwood's favor.

Those who fall off the mountain don't usually climb back up. But Ellenwood, Bethune-Cookman's track and field coach, just needed to find the right path.

He thought it was football. In 1993, Ohio State offered a scholarship to the star receiver at Ben Franklin High in Rochester, N.Y. But he blew it.

"I had some trouble throughout high school, but toward the end it got really bad," Ellenwood said. "I was in the street doing things I had no business doing. I got in fights in school. I got suspended. I actually got sent to alternative school right after football for two months. I was able to get back into my high school and graduate. But a lot of the offers got taken away."

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Arizona Jumper Signs With Morgan State Women's Track

Photo: Morgan State University NLI signee, Micaha Carson.

BALTIMORE, Md. - The Morgan State women’s track and field program is proud to announce that Micsha Carson, a senior at Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona has signed a national letter of intent to attend Morgan State University for the 2008-2009 track season.

Carson, a multi-event athlete who can do all jumps, sprints, and hurdles, will come to Morgan next year to focus on the long and triple jumps. Carson is a member of the Chandler Wolves who have won back-to-back state team titles, and are favored to win a third this year. Carson contributed by scoring in the long jump, the triple jump, the hurdles, and the relays. Carson has personal best marks of 19-2 (long jump), 39-4(triple jump), and 14.20 (hurdles).

Carson was the No. 2 triple jumper in the state of Arizona and was on the top ten list in the long jump, 100 hurdles, and 300 hurdles. Carson’s Chandler Wolves will be vying for their third 5A division I team championship in a row this season.

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DSU athletes excel at Thomson Invitational

NEWARK, DE -- Delaware State University's Jasmine Rogers and Nekisha Franklin recorded first-place finishes on the women's side of the Thomson Invitational indoor track and field meet on Saturday at the University of Delaware, while Donte Holmes and two Hornets relay teams won for the men.

The Delaware State men placed third with 96 points, trailing Temple (149 1¼2) and Monmouth (129). The DSU women were fourth with 73 1¼2 points, behind Delaware (137 1¼2), Temple (133 1¼2) and Maryland (92 1¼2) in the 12-team field.

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Delaware State runners to attend Millrose Games tonight

DOVER -- Six members of Delaware State's indoor track and field team have been invited to compete in the Millrose Games tonight. DSU sprinters Larrone Moore and Lee Barnes will join women's 1,600-meter relay team members Nekisha Franklin, Cuquie Melville, Tiffany Green and Kendra Mayer in the event at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The Millrose Games attract top collegiate track and field athletes and potential Olympians. Moore and Barnes will compete in the men's 60-meter dash. Moore has two first-place finishes this indoor season, with a best time of 6.84 seconds in the 60. Barnes ran a season-best 6.95 in the 60 in the Great Dane Classic in New York last weekend. Moore and Barnes have qualified for next month's IC4A championships in the 60-meter dash.

ESPN is scheduled to provide live coverage of some Milrose Games events.

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MEAC Commissioner: No Expansion At This Time

The commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference confirmed Monday that the league is not looking to expand at this time, a crucial situation for N.C. Central as it looks to move to find conference affiliation in Division I.

N.C. Central has left the CIAA, and Bill Hayes said in August that he hoped to hear something from the MEAC by December. The MEAC, which includes North Carolina A&T and is adding Winston-Salem State, would be a natural fit for the Eagles.

But MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas indicated Monday that his conference is not looking to add members.

“This past March of ’07 the conference decided to put a moratorium on expansion at this time,” Thomas said. “There is no timetable to it.”

The MEAC has 12 members, and 10 that play football. North Carolina A&T athletics director Dee Todd said expanding could make scheduling difficult, so the league wants to take a long look at any additions.

NCCU, however, could be appealing if the MEAC decides to grow. Thomas praised its academic and athletic reputation, and the Eagles are generally strong in men’s basketball and football. The addition of the Eagles would be a boost to the MEAC if the league basketball tournament remains in Raleigh.

The returns to the RBC Center for the third time this fall. Attendance has been low, and Thomas said the league is hoping to improve that.

“We’re pleased but not satisfied. We’re working assiduously to increase tournament attendance and make it more fan friendly.”

Thomas said the league expects to decide to award a three-year contract for the 2009-2011 tournaments by March.