VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Highlighted by victories from
Asa Francis,
Jeff Hammond,
Solomon Hammond and the 4x400m Relay, Coppin State's men's team finished fourth at the MEAC Indoor Track & Field Championships over three days at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. The Eagles scored 85 points, following Norfolk State, Howard and Delaware State while besting squads from NC Central, South Carolina State, Morgan State and Maryland Eastern Shore.
After
Jeff Hammond won the long jump (7.52m | 24' 8.25") on day one,
James Bell took third in the high jump at 1.96m (6'5") and
Andrew Betton finished the heptathlon in fifth place with 4,082 points on Saturday going into the final day on Tuesday.
Francis picked up the first gold medal for Coppin on Tuesday with a dominant performance in the 800m where he led from start to finish. Clocking in with a personal record of 1:51.84, he won by over two seconds by opening up in 55.16 and coming home in 56.69.
Solomon Hammond was quick to add another ten points with a victory in the 200m dash in 20.90. His time was also a personal record and is the third-fastest time in CSU history.
Francis also ran the anchor leg of the 4x400m relay that won in a school-record 3:09.88. Running the first three legs were
Daniel Cunningham,
Carl Drakes and
Jarrett Gentles. The gold medal winning time broke the previous mark of 3:10.73 that stood for nearly 16 years by Dale Dunn, Carlinton Morgan, Jieutonne Archer and Steve Delice.
As Francis and
Solomon Hammond picked up wins in their respective events on Tuesday, the Eagles showed great depth in those races as well. In the 800m,
Etiam Torgbenu also took third in 1:53.97 while
Jayeed Norbal finished fifth in 1:54.78. On Monday, Francis, Torgbenu and Norbal teamed with
Humed Nura in the Distance Medley Relay where they finished sixth in 10:32.66.
Drakes joined Hammond on the podium of the 200m, taking third in 21.13 while
Noxroy Wright took seventh in 21.60. Wright also took sixth in the 60m dash in 6.85.
Prior to running the first two legs of the 4x400m, Drakes and Cunningham took fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 400m dash in 47.81 and 47.99.
Coppin also picked up points in the pole vault as Betton took fifth by clearing 3.90m (12' 9.50"). Betton's mark is the third-highest in school history and the best by a CSU pole vaulter since in over 15 years.
Nura doubled up in the 3,000m and 5,000m where he took 13
th overall in both, clocking times of 9:04.70 and 16:36.21.
Cole Schlotterbeck (60m | 7.33; 200m | 22.15 ) and Gentles (200m | 21.72; 400m | 48.76) also doubled up in preliminary events while
Alexander Dobson-Honablue clocked a PR 49.33 in the 400m dash.
The Eagles are slated to compete at the IC4A/ECAC Championships on March 1-3 at Boston University.
