Feb. 12, 2010

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LANDOVER, Md. - The Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman University Track & Field opened competition, Friday, in the Prince George Sports Complex for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships. The team had several high points, but came up short in points scoring, wrapping the first day in women's 9th place with 12 points, and men's 11th with 1 point. However, the Wildcats did come away with three qualifiers into Saturday's final, nine finishers in the top ten, and first-place performance for senior Ron Danielle Williams.

Ron Danielle Williams led the performances for B-CU in Friday's competition, taking the gold in the women's shot put with a season-best throw of 15.29m (50-02.00 ft.). Williams' distance at the meet also makes her a provisional qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Also throwing in the upper tier of the women's shot, Maketa Ruffin finished 9th with a distance of 12.05m (39-06.50 ft.).

"We started the day off strong with a dynamic showing in the women's shot," said Head Coach Donald Cooper. "[she] exploded with a 50 foot throw which gave her the victory despite a medical condition which had her in tears just hours before the competition. Maketa Ruffin ended the competition just shy of a scoring opportunity with a 9th place finish."

B-CU made three qualifications for Saturday's finals, led by D.J. Howard, who finished 4th in the 60m hurdles preliminaries with a time of 8.172 seconds.

Analisa Austin moved on to the finals in the 60m dash, finishing 7th in the preliminaries with a season and personal-best time of 7.61 seconds. Also in the women's 60m, Apple Harris finished 13th in 7.86, with Alese Forbes just behind at 14th and 7.88.

 In the men's 60m dash, Eric Cray crossed in 8th, with a time of 6.95 seconds, passing to the finals on Saturday. Also competing in the 60m, Chris Herring finished 13th in 7.01, while Chris Jackson finished 30th (7.69).

In the men's 800m run, Marcell Keeling turned in a gutty performance, finishing 8th with a time of 1:56.56. Also in the half mile, at 13th, William Cosby ran a time of 1:59.12, while Derrick Taylor ran 2:09.31 to finish 25th.

In the women's 800m run, freshman Asia Henry led the half-milers with a 15th place finish at 2:22.85, followed by Alexandria Condell at 16th in 2:23.05, and Jacquennee Flowers at 24th in a season-best, 2:42.48.

In the women's 400m dash, LaShondra Wilbon fell just .14 seconds short of qualifying for the finals, finishing 9th in a time of 58.97 seconds. Also in the quarter mile, Vanderlyn Watts ran 1:01.03 to finish 24th, just ahead of Tanekia Flowers in 25th at 1:01.09.

 On the men's side of the 400m, season's leader Eric Cray couldn't bounce back from an earlier injury in the multi-turn race and pulled up to prepare for his 60m. Leading the Wildcat quarter-milers, Chris Jackson ran 51.35 to finish 22nd, with Martin Embry at 26th (51.55), and Devon Creary at 28th (51.67).

In the women's 60m hurdles, Crystal Bardge turned in a time of 8.92 seconds to finish 11th. Also in the 60 hurdles, Ryan Sanders finished 21st in 9.52.

For the men's 200m dash, Martin Embry led B-CU, finishing 16th in a time of 22.61, followed by Chris Herring at 22nd (22.67), and Chris Jackson at 27th (23.26).

On the women's side of the 200m, Analisa Austin finished 18th in 26.05 seconds, followed by Alese Forbes at 23rd (26.55), and Apple Harris in 25th (26.58).

Although many of the longer sprints did not fare well for the Wildcats on Friday, the coaching staff noted that their competitive fire is burning as they look to make waves in Saturday's relay events.

B-CU Results: Running Events

B-CU also did well in the women's weight throw, with Ron Danielle Williams finishing 10th with a distance of 12.89m (42-03.50 ft.). Maketa Ruffin came in 12th, tossing a season-best distance of 11.95m (39-02.50 ft.).

The conference hosted some of the jumps events on Friday, beginning with the high jump. On the women's side, Ryan Sanders finished 14th with a season-best leap of 1.55m (5-01.00 ft.).

Moving forward to the long jump, Ryan Sanders finished 14th with a leap of 5.12m (16-09.75 ft.). On the men's side, Kenson Nicholas finished 17th with a distance of 6.37m (20-10.75 ft.), while Richard Carter came in 20th with a jump of 6.08m (19-11.50 ft.).

B-CU Results: Relays

Friday's events only featured on set of relays, the Distance Medley Relay, consisting of legs of 1200m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m. The women's team (composed of Asia Henry, LaShondra Wilbon, Jacquennee Flowers, and Alexandria Condell) led the way, finishing 7th with a time of 13:24.71. Meanwhile, the men's relay (of Marcell Keeling, Robert Horton, Tavares Harris, and William Cosby) finished 10th in a time of 11:01.73.

In addition to men's and women's 60m finals for Cray and Austin, and the 60m hurdles final for Howard, Saturday's events will also feature the triple jump and the 4 x 400m relays, and an athlete in the women's pentathlon, giving the Wildcats further opportunities to put additional points on the board.

"The teams have banded together in support of one another despite adversity," conluded Cooper. "They are representing the Great Bethune-Cookman University with pride and integrity; crucial ingredients when developing a championship team. The coaching staff has been doing an outstanding job behind the scene as we prepare for day two."

Check back with www.B-CUathletics.com for Saturday MEAC Championships coverage at the conclusion of the day's events.