COLUMBIA, S.C. – Jeff Hammond took gold in the long jump while shattering a school-record and
Joseph Manu won the 60m dash to lead the Coppin State men's track & field team to an impressive showing at the Carolina Challenge, hosted by the University of South Carolina on Friday-Saturday.
A junior from Kumasi, Ghana, Hammond won the long jump over an elite field with a leap of 7.65m (25-1.25). On his first attempt, Hammond missed the board, but traveled 24' 7" which was a school-record and ranked him in second place. Hammond's best jump came in his second attempt which broke
Brandon Miles' 12-year-old school-record by nearly ten inches. With his effort, Hammond now stands 10
th in the Nation and leads the MEAC.
Manu took gold in the 60m dash in a MEAC-leading time of 6.69, just missing his own school-record of 6.66 set last season. A senior from Accra, Ghana, Manu clocked a 6.71 in the prelims earlier on the day and later finished seventh in the 200m dash in 21.63. Hammond also took fourth in the 60m dash in 6.97 while
Abayie Opuni just missed the top ten in the 200m dash with a time of 21.84.
Opuni and
Randy Serville turned in ECAC qualifying times in the 400m dash as Opuni took sixth in 48.20, followed by Serville in 48.73.
Amadou Ba ran a great race in the 800m Run and took fourth in 1:53.07 while
Ivan Wiggins covered the event in 2:04.90. Wiggins also anchored the 4x400m Relay along with
Jervonne Agard,
Mauriel Carty and
Amiri Goode.
Making his season debut in the shot put,
Balvin Richards took tenth with a toss of 44' 4."
Coppin returns to the track on February 5 for the East Coast Challenge, held at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
