MEET RESULTS
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Nova Southeastern University men's and women's track and field team completed its first ever Shark Invitational home meet on Wednesday, March 16 at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida. The Sharks were triumphant as they played host to the Saint Thomas Aquinas College Spartans from Sparkill, New York.
The inaugural Shark Invitational had a special ceremony at the conclusion of all events in which the Sharks and Spartans gathered to commemorate all graduating seniors from both teams.
The Sharks honored
Quannisha Allen (Sr., St. Augustine, Fla.), Majose Foster (Sr., Lauderhill, Fla.),
Jessica Nyiro (Sr., Valparaiso, Ind.),
Imke Oelerich (Sr., Braunschweig, Germany),
Monica Sapp (Sr., Miami, Fla.),
Chelsey Thomas (Sr., Riverdale, Ga.) and
Ciona Williams (Sr., Stockton, Calif.). The men recognized seniors
Uguens Decius (Sr., Miami, Fla.), AJ Franklin (Sr., Pensacola, Fla.),
Darren Hendricks (Sr., North Port, Fla.),
Lucas Ruiz (Sr., Tucson, Ariz.) and
Long Tran (Sr., Saigon, Vietnam).
Track and field head coach
Bryan Hagopian shared his thoughts post meet by saying, "I was highly impressed with everybody's performance. This has been the most memorable senior day with my team as all seniors and underclassmen stepped their game up to make it a very competitive event."
The NSU women's track and field team concluded the meet with a 23-point differential over Saint Thomas Aquinas. The Sharks collected a total of 73 points and nine first place finishes in the women's contests.
On the other side, the men's track and field team led the Spartans by 25 points in the overall team score. NSU men claimed 79 points and eight first place finishes to give the Sharks an overall victory in the first-ever home competition.
Sharks' sophomore
Sydney Molina (Miami, Fla.) set the longest mark of the day in the women's discus throw with 36.13 meters. Freshman
Kamaria Johnson (Little Rock, Ark.) also took first place for the Sharks in the women's shot put with an 11.28 meter mark. Darren Hedricks (Sr., North Port, Fla.) did the same for the Sharks in the men's discus throw with 43.28 meters and in the men's shot put with 11.80 meters.
The Sharks were fairly dominant in most field events as Kristine Sora (So., Scarborough, Canada) set the highest women's pole vault spot of the day with 3.05 meters.
Shakira Bartley (Jr.,
Shakira Bartley) replicated the success for the Sharks with a 5.43 meter mark in the women's long jump. As for the men,
Christopher Horn (Fr., Leo, Ind.) also represented the Sharks well with a long jump distance of 6.60 meters.
Jazmine Elleston (So., Piscataway, N.J.) claimed first place in the women's triple jump with 11.45 meters.
Sophomore Elleston teamed up with Bartley, Sherelle Jordan (Jr. Chandler, Ariz.), and
Ciona Williams (Sr. Stockton, Calif.) to take the women's 4x100 meter relay in 47.71 seconds. Elleston did it again in the 4x400 meter relay with Jordan,
Shannon Rolle (Jr., Miami, Fla.), and
Kelley Johnson (Fr., Issaquah, Wash.) in 4:03.57 minutes. Sharks' Jordan had individual success in the women's 100 meter dash with the fastest time of the day of 12.70 seconds. Rolle also had an individual first place finish in the women's 200 meter dash with a mark of 25.49.
On the men's side, junior
Dwayne Edwards (Jacksonville, Fla.) shined by taking the men's 400 meter dash in 50.17 seconds. Edwards partnered up with
Rohan Mullings (Jr., Royal Palm Beach, Fla.),
Ismael Voltaire (R-Jr., Kissimmee, Fla.), and
Devonte Gibson (Fr., Boynton Beach, Fla.) to claim first place in the men's 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:20.59. Gibson and Mullings also saw success by taking first place in the men's 4x100 meter relay with AJ Franklin (Sr., Pensacola, Fla.) and
Eric Moate (So., Lakeland, Fla.) in just 42.05 seconds.
Distance runners also showcased their speed against the Spartans as
Thomas Ingalls (Jr., St. George, Utah) had the quickest men's 1500 meter run with a time of 4:24.35. Sophomore
Ian McQuate (Keaau, Hawaai) also had the fastest time for the Sharks in the men's 800 meter run with a 2:00.38 mark.
Hagopian added, "From the results of the past USF Invitational and Shark Invitational meets, we are looking forward to better results at the upcoming UM track and field meet and our best results leading towards Nationals."
The Sharks are on the qui vive to displaying the same work ethic this upcoming weekend in Miami, Florida when they participate in the prestigious University of Miami Hurricane Invitational. The events will start on Friday, March 18 and conclude on Saturday afternoon.
