VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Andrew Betton and
Jeff Hammond took third in their respective open events on Sunday, the opening day of the 2025 MEAC Indoor Track & Field Championships held at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
After already competing in the first four events of the heptathlon earlier in the day, Betton came back to clear 2.02m (6' 7.50") in the high jump to pick up six points for the Eagles.
Betton stands in second place in the heptathlon with 2,905 points, just 116 points behind the lead. He opened with a 7.15 in the 60m dash to score 830 points and also put up 813 points in the high jump by clearing 2.01m. He added 760 points in the long jump by leaping 6.77m and threw the shot put 10.27m for 502 points.
Jeff Hammond also leaped 7.19m (23' 7.25") in his opening attempt of the long jump which stood to place third in the event. Also competing in the event for Coppin was
Jabari Higgs-Salaam, who took ninth in 6.79m (22' 3.50") and
Oluwamumisorire Amori, who travel 6.50m (21' 5.0").
Humed Nura played a hand in helping Coppin score seven points as he finished seventh in the 3,000m in a personal record time of 8:55.65. He also ran the opening leg of the Distance Medley Relay, along with
Etiam Torgbenu,
Jayeed Norbal and
Asa Francis, which finished fourth in 10:34.86.
Coppin's sprint team proved to be arguably the best in the MEAC with eight qualifiers into tomorrow's finals.
Solomon Hammond clocked the top preliminary time in the 60m dash in 6.70 while
Carl Drakes won his heat in 6.84 to qualify for the final. The duo also both qualified for the final in the 200m with Drakes finishing in 21.25, just ahead of
Solomon Hammond in 21.31.
Cole Schlotterbeck finished 10
th in the 60m (6.89) and 15
th in the 200m (21.75).
In the 400m dash,
Jarrett Gentles advanced to the final with a 47.91, while
Abdul Razak won his heat in 48.23, but his time was just short of qualifying.
Daniel Cunningham also clocked a 49.08 in the event.
A trio of Eagles ran qualifying times in the 800m Run, led by the defending MEAC Champion in the event,
Asa Francis in 1:55.71.
Jayeed Norbal and
Etiam Torgbenu also advanced in times of 1:56.65 and 1:57.09, respectively.
Monday's Final Day of the MEAC Championship will start at 8:30 am with the heptathlon. Fans will be able to watch on ESPN+.
Schedule for Coppin Track & Field Events on Monday
8:30 am: Heptathlon (
Andrew Betton)
12:30 pm: 60m Dash (
Solomon Hammond,
Carl Drakes)
1:00 pm: Triple Jump (Oluwamumisorire Amori, Jaidyn Brown)
1:20 pm: 400m Dash (
Jarrett Gentles)
1:40 pm: 800m Run (
Asa Francis,
Jayeed Norbal,
Etiam Torgbenu)
2:00 pm: 200m Dash (
Carl Drakes,
Solomon Hammond)
2:35 pm: 5,000m Run (
Humed Nura)
3:20 pm: 4x400m Relay
