NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State's
James Bell won the high jump and
Andrew Betton leads the decathlon as the men's and women's track & field teams had several individuals compete on day one of the MEAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Dick Price Stadium on the campus of Norfolk State on Monday afternoon.
Bell cleared 2.06m (6'9") on his first attempt to win the high jump. A senior from Newark, N.J., Bell did not miss an attempt at any of his jumps on the day.
A junior from Kingston, Jamaica, Betton sits in first place in the decathlon through five events with 3,468 points and
Amiri Goode ranks seventh with 3,082 points. Betton started with an 11.40 in the 100m dash for 774 points and he leaped 6.61m (21' 8.50) for 723 points. After tossing the shot put 10.86m (35' 7.75) for 537, he cleared 1.92m (6'3.5") in the high jump for 731 points and wrapped up his day with a 52.50 in the 400m dash for 703 points.
Goode's best events came in the 100m dash (11.61) where he recorded 730 points and the 400m dash (52.36) for 709 points. He also picked up 641 points by leaping 6.25m in the long jump, 528 points in the high jump (1.68m) and 474 points in the shot put (9.80m).
After four events of the heptathlon,
Kaelyn Woodrum sits in fourth place with 2,611 points. Woodrum opened the two-day event with a 14.95 in the 100m hurdles, winning her heat and collecting 848 points. She later cleared 1.45m (4'9") in the high jump and tossed the shot put 7.05m (23' 1.75") before closing her day with a 25.31 in the 200m dash, winning her heat and earning 859 points.
Halutie Hor and
Nackera Allen both qualified for Wednesday's finals of the women's 200m dash with two of the fastest times among non-heat winners. Hor clocked a 23.99 while Allen finished in 24.20.
Benidicta Kwartemaa placed 12
th overall in 24.64.
Noxroy Wright won his heat of the 200m dash in 21.05 to automatically qualify for Wednesday's final. Also advancing based on their heat times were
Carl Drakes (21.02) and
Solomon Hammond (21.27) while
Cole Schlotterbeck ran 22.15.
Destinee Lewis advanced to the finals of the 400m hurdles in 1:03.45, while Woodrum, after a grueling day of the heptathlon, finished in 1:11.09.
Day two of the MEAC Championships will begin at 9:00 am on Tuesday, May 7 with the heptathlon and decathlon.
