Feb. 17, 2007

Complete Results

Landover, Md. - Bethune-Cookman College men's ands women's track & field got a positive result for head coach Garfield Ellenwood over the weekend as the `Cats had several personal records in the annual MEAC Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Harold Rose, Jr. set the bar extremely high for the `Cats on the men's side as he set a PR [personal record] in the heptathlon, as well as finishing second in the pole vault with a height of 4.25m. Rose also achieved a PR time of 8.38 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.

"Harold did an extremely good job in the heptathlon, as well as in the pole vault for us and getting big points," exclaimed Garfield Ellenwood. "I am proud of him and the way he has worked this year towards achieving that goal has been phenomenal."

Some other newcomers also achieved some good individual times for the `Cats on the track in the form of Jarred Lawson in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.16 seconds in just his second event of the season. Fellow B-CC football players turned track & field athletes also performed well as Phillip Kirkland and Curtis Marshall.

"I am very excited about how the football players became an immediate impact for us in very little time on the track this year," expressed Ellenwood. "They are going to be good athletes, and they are very natural in their approach to working hard and wanting to get their speed up."

The `Cats finished in ninth place for the Championships as they collected 18 points throughout the course of the weekend. Harold Rose, Jr. was a big part of that success in Ellenwood's eyes.

On the women's side of things, the Wildcats did not perform as well as expected, but they competed well. The women's team collected just eight (8) points for the event as they placed last for the event.

Tiffany Gordon helped the `Cats with an 11th place finish in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:21.28. Brittany Gibson finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 5.34m earning four points for the `Cats.

Gibson also finished seventh in the triple jump with a distance of 11.58m earning two points. Another two points came in the Distance Medley with a time of 13:30.43 in a seventh place appearance.

"I expected more from the women, but I will have to correct that for the outdoor season," states Coach Ellenwood. "I am proud that we stayed in it with a limited roster, but I have a lot of changes to make ... and I know what I need to do."

Bethune-Cookman College will now prepare for their "off-season" before taking part in the outdoor season.

"We are really looking forward to a great outdoor season because everyone is doing their part and making the strides towards getting better," expressed Coach Ellenwood. "I know how we need to approach the season, and we are going to get this thing turned around in a hurry."

The Hampton Pirates took the women's titles for the indoor season as they finished almost 100 points ahead of second place competitor Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Pirates of HU had 179 points, most of the earned by MEAC Most Outstanding Performer Yvette Lewis.

On the men's side, Norfolk State finished in first place with a close finish against second-place competitor Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Spartans of NSU had 133 points to the Hawks 110 points.

This is the second year in a row that Hampton and Norfolk State won the women's and men's indoor titles, respectively.