By Mekhi Abbott
Special to the AFRO
mabbott@afro.com
The Howard Bison capped off their indoor track and field season at the inaugural HBCU National Indoor Track and Field Championships. Both the men and women finished first in overall points, resulting in two championship trophies returning to Chocolate City.
Kentucky State University hosted the track and field national championship meet solely for historically Black colleges and universities on March 8. The track meet was broken up into two divisions – large schools and small schools.
On the men’s side, Howard was able to claim their first track and field championship designation since 1985 when they last won a conference title. Graduate student Goba Dan-Princewill took home gold in both the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash for big schools with times of 6.81 and 21.27, respectively. Junior Andre Prince led the way for the Bison in the throwing events, finishing first in both shot put and weight throw.
“It’s exciting to have been a part of this new HBCU national meet,” said Prince. “This is just the first of many more to come. I can’t wait to win another title with my team next year.”
Seniors Kyle Fisher and Chase Drewery finished first in the long jump and triple jump, respectively. Fisher jumped 7.09 meters (23 feet, 3.25 inches) and Drewery jumped a meet high 15.04 meters (49 feet, 4.25 inches). In total, the Bison scored 178 points. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore finished in second place in the big school division with a team total of 52 points.
Howard’s women track and field team continued its dominance, adding yet another championship trophy to their collection. Howard is coming off of their fourth consecutive season winning an indoor Mideastern Athletic Conference indoor title.
Howard swept the podium in the 60-meter dash. Ohio State transfer Marcia Sey won with a time of 7.46 seconds, with teammates Ai’yana Grey-Williams and Kailei Collins immediately following her up with times of 7.49 and 7.51 seconds, respectively. Sherri-Ann Norton, Tiffani Rae Pittman and Lauren Thompson also finished in the top eight for the Bison, claiming a total of 31 points in the event for Howard.
Howard saw similar success in the 60-meter hurdles. Sey crossed the finish line victorious in the hurdles as well with a time of 8.29. Only Howard Bison would score in the 60-meter hurdle final with Thompson finishing second, Jasmyn Hunter third, and Jazmyn Wajd and Lindsay Johnson finishing fourth and fifth.
The Bison also performed well in the field events as senior Temi Banwo claimed gold in the weight throw with a mark of 17.74 meters (58 feet, 2.5 inches), a new personal record. Banwo took home silver in the shot put to teammate Kendra Ezeama, who threw a meet best 14.08 meters (46 feet, 2.5 inches). In total, the Bison scored 230 points, 198 points more than the University of Maryland Eastern Shore who also finished runner-up for the women in the big school division.
“I came into the meet very eager to compete and win. This was Howard’s first time participating [at HBCU nationals] and with this being my senior year I wanted to make sure that I gave it my all. In the end I’m just proud of myself for being able to do my best in shot put and actually earn my gold medal in the weight throw with that personal record,” said Banwo.
Host school Kentucky State won the small school championship on the women’s side, finishing with 120 total points. Field athlete Ariana Simmons claimed gold in both the pole vault and the women’s high jump. Simmons cleared 2.30 meters (7 feet, 6.5 inches) in the pole vault and jumped 1.30 meters (4 feet, 3.25 inches) in the long jump. Iyanna Thompson-Carson, Hailey Tucker and Kanylah Young swept the 600-meter dash for the Kentucky State Thorobreds. Tucker was also a member of the 4×200-meter relay team that contributed another 10 points to the Thorobred’s team total.
Voorhees University finished first among the men’s teams competing in the small school division with a total of 176 points. Voorhees University performed especially well in the 60-meter dash. Junior Damarion Alexander crossed the line with a time of 6.71 seconds, the best performance in the event for the entire meet. The performance was a new personal record for Alexander and moved him up to number seven among athletes competing in the 60-meter dash at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics level. Fellow Voorhees Tigers Samaljay Bentley and Ricardo Lewis finished third and fourth in the event, respectively. Freshman Landyn Dupper came in seventh with a time of 7.09 seconds, adding two more points to Voorhees’ total.
The HBCU National Indoor Track and Field Championships concludes the indoor track and field season for all HBCU student-athletes. Most schools will begin the transition to the outdoor track and field season, which typically kicks off during spring break. Howard’s Marcia Sey was the only athlete that competed at HBCU nationals that was considered for the NCAA Indoor Championships beginning on March 14. Sey, however, just missed the cut, as only 16 athletes get selected to compete at NCAA Nationals per event. Sey was ranked No. 22 in the 60-meter hurdles.
