The Crimson Elite Invitational and the Scarlet & White Indoor Invitational took place in Massachusetts the weekend of Feb. 5, 2016. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore did well at the invitationals and Junior Shelasia Leitch broke a 10 year record. Leitch ran in the women’s 60 meter hurdle event and her effort was one of many first place finishes by the Hawks.

Leith raced to a time of 8.57 seconds in the finals, which put her in third place overall. This new record tops Shavon Robinson’d time of 8.63 seconds back in 2005.

The men totaled 52 points to finish fifth at Harvard and 22 points to finish tenthin Boston. The Lady Hawks took fourth with 29 points at the Crimson Elite and ninth with 33 points at the Scarlet & White.

The Hawks swept the mile run with junior Khalil Rmidi Kinini winning the race with a time of 4:15.63, followed by freshman Oussama Chouati, sophomore Stanley Meli, and junior Nassor Whitehead.

Friday at Crimson Elite

Junior Taj Showalter took fourth place in the hurdles with a time of 8.25 seconds and junior Naja Benton took third in the triple jump with a distance of 14.20 meters. Senior Rico Duncan did well in shot put and the weight throw, where he took second place. Duncan’s distance was 18.39 meters which serves as a new collegiate high for him.

Sophomore Dypna Umunakwe took runner up with a time of 58.15 seconds in the 400 meter dash. Freshman Lenneisha Gilbert came in fourth place, exactly one second behind her teammate. Freshmen Alicia Colson and Luan Gabriel did well in this event also.

Junior Shauntel Lucius earned a runner up spot in the triple jump with a distance of 12.07 meters and sophomore Tanise Edwards brought home points with a sixth place finish. Senior Donisha Porter took seventh place in the shot put, which earned a pair of points for her team.

Saturday at Scarlet & White

Rmidi Kinini, Benton, and Duncan were the only scorers at the meet for the men. Freshman Jalen Walker ran a 22.28 second 200 meter for a new collegiate high. Sophomore Donovan Mundy ran a 1:55.86 in the 800 meter run and Chouati’s ran a 4:15.55 in the mile, serving as new UMES high’s for them both.

The Lady Hawks brought home points from Gilbert’s time of 57.03 in the 400 meter dash and junior Jennaya Hield earned a few points for the team with a sixth place finish in the 800 meter run. Lucius and Edwards delivered a big contribution with a first and second place finish in the triple jump.

Porter came in sixth with 12.96 meters in the shot put and sophomore Regyn Davis-Young threw 12.81 meters.

The UMES indoor track team is now competiting in the 2016 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships in Landover, Md.