GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Wildcats came away from the
Jimmy Carnes Invitational with six first-place performances in their second
trip to the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in the 2013 indoor season. In addition
to that, the Wildcats topped all teams in men's scored events for their first
meet win of the season. The women's team finished fifth among scored events.
"We had a decent meet, with a host of personal and
season bests, in addition to a few new qualifiers," Head Coach Donald Cooper
said.
The Wildcats opened Saturday's day one of the Jimmy
Carnes with a strong performance in the first multi-event competition of the
year. Rayanna Johnson won the pentathlon
with a score of 3,240, hitting marks of 10.04m (32-11.25 ft.) and 5.31m
(17-05.25 ft.) for second-place marks in the high jump and long jump,
respectively. Johnson was joined by Deidra Jordan (5th, 2,965 points) in
qualifying for the MEAC Indoor Championships in the event.
Jordan also finished second in the individual high jump,
hitting a mark of 1.61m (5-03.25 ft.)
Keron Stoute led the heptathlon after the first day,
winning the high jump portion (2.03m/6-08.00 ft.), with second-place marks in
the 55m (6.69) and long jump (6.51m/21-04.25 ft.). He picked up right where he
left off on Sunday, earning 4,007 points in the win and a MEAC qualification.
Martin Embry III (3,707), Nnamdi Davis (3,654) and Curtis Riggins (3,454)
finished fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.
Tristie Johnson dropped nearly a second off her 200m
personal record to finish first in the event in 24.54. Apple Harris (6th,
25.22), Shakira Garner (7th, 25.23), Alonti Richardson (9th, 25.31) and Keyona
Thomas (10th, 25.54) rounded out the top 10 for Bethune-Cookman.
Garner and Harris also earned a spot among the finalists
in the 55m, with Garner finishing second (7.05) and Harris coming in eighth
(7.20).
In the men's 200m, B-CU again earned the win, with Josh
Perkins running a 21.95 for the first-place finish, just ahead of Garrett Ellis
coming in third in 22.30.
In addition to his 200m finish, Ellis also earned the
top spot in the 400m with a time of 50.05.
D.J. Howard finished second in the 55m hurdles, logging
a time of 7.44 seconds, just ahead of Tremayne Banks in fourth at 7.73. Banks
also finished sixth in the 55m dash at 6.52, while Angelo Cabrera had a slow
start to finish eighth (6.66). In the women's 55m hurdles, Raven Thomas was
eighth in 8.98.
With more solid performances in the field events,
La'Quan Howard led the way for B-CU, capturing second in the triple jump (14.82m/48-07.50 ft.), while
Stoute was eighth (12.60m/41-04.25 ft.) . Barry Kimbrough threw 14.55m (47-09.00 ft.) in the men's
shot put, earning third. In the women's shot, Desiree Richardson threw 12.82m
(42-00.75 ft.) for fifth. Sasha Smallwood hit a mark of 3.55m (11-07.75 ft.) in
the women's pole vault for fifth.
In the men's long jump, B-CU logged four in the top 10,
led by Jimel Wright in sixth (6.96m/22-10.0 ft.), along with Perkins in seventh
(6.70m/21-11.75 ft.), Donovan Frater in eighth (6.42m/21-00.75 ft.) and La'Quan
Howard (6.28m/20-07.25 ft.).
In the few distance events, Kadian Dunkley led the
Wildcats with a second-place (first place collegiate) mark in the 5000m at 18:14.68. Ricy Brown finished third in the men's mile at 4:22.97.
Jacquell Phillip came in eighth in the men's 800m in 1:59.50.
"On top of the performances, I was proud to hear the
compliments from officials and other coaches on how well-mannered and pleasant
our athletes were to be around," Cooper noted. "That's extremely important to
me and my staff."
The Wildcats next hit the track for an elite meet at the
New Balance Collegiate Invitational at Brooklyn, New York's Armory Track
facility. B-CU will hit the major national meet on February 1-2.
For all the latest information on the Bethune-Cookman
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