GREENSBORO, N.C. – Coppin State's
Jarrett Gentles won the 400m dash and took second in the 400m hurdles, both in nearly record times, to lead the Coppin State men's track & field team at the Aggie Classic, hosted by North Carolina A&T this weekend.
Out of the second heat in lane eight, Gentles won the 400m dash in a blistering 46.25, beating out four Aggies on their home track. Gentles' mark is the second-fastest time in school-history, just four-hundredths of a second shy of
Karanja Alexander's mark of 46.21 which was ran 23 years ago.
Gentles also set a personal record of 46.25 in the 400m hurdles, which is the third-fastest time in school history. His mark trails just All-Americans
Jibri Victorian (50.10 in 2012) and
Steve Delice (50.25 in 2007).
Solomon Hammond and
Carl Drakes were the top collegiate runners in the 100m and 200m dash, respectively. Hammond ran a 10.30 in the 100m dash, taking third overall behind CSU alumnus and Olympian
Joseph Amoah (10.20) and Cravont Charleston (10.27). Drakes took fourth in the 200m in 20.72 behind Micaiah Harris (20.47) and Olympians
Matthew Boling (20.48) and Amoah (20.68).
Drakes finished just behind Hammond in the 100m in 10.46 as Hammond clocked a 21.31 in the 200m dash. The duo also led the Eagles 4x100m to a victory in 39.93, running the second and third legs with
Chris Adekoya and
Cole Schlotterbeck leading off and anchoring.
Adekoya and Schlotterbeck also doubled up in the 100m and 200 with Adekoya leading the way in the short sprint, 10.56 to 10.61. Schlotterbeck got the upper hand in the 200m, 21.42 to 21.84.
Noxroy Wright also doubled in the events, clocking times of 10.74 and 21.88.
A trio of Eagles finished in the top five of the 800m with
Asa Francis leading the way with a second place finish in 1:52.05.
Etiam Torgbenu took third in 1:53.17 while
Jayeed Norbal placed fifth in 1:54.04.
Humed Nura ran a PR of 1:58.83 in the event while also running the 1,500m in 4:04.41.
Taking the silver in their respective field events were
Jeff Hammond in the long jump with a leap of 7.40m (24' 3.50") and
Andrew Betton in the javelin with a toss of 43.95m (144' 2"). Betton also ran a 15.72 in the 110m hurdles and 52.20 in the 400m dash.
Daniel Cunningham also put together a solid performance in the 400m dash, clocking in a 47.99.
Elsewhere in the field events,
Fiyin Amori covered 14.14m (46' 4.75") in the triple jump and 6.04m (19' 9.75") in the long jump.
Jaidyn Brown also cleared 1.85m (6' 0.75") in the high jump.
Coppin returns to the track for the MEAC Championships, hosted at Norfolk State, on May 15-17.
