West Long Branch, N.J. – The Long Island women's track and field team took third place at the 2011 Northeast Conference Championships, while the men were fifth in the team standings. Junior Jessie Gaines was named the women's Most Valuable Performer for the second straight year, tallying 43.5 points. She was also named Most Outstanding Field Performer.

 

On the second day of competition, Gaines claimed a pair of individual titles on the women's side. She took first in the triple jump, leaping to a mark of 11.76 meters, and then went on to take first place in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking in at 14.16. The Chesapeake, Va. native was second in the 100-meter dash, coming in at 11.99 and fourth in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 24.58.

 

Junior Jazmin Waller was another huge contributor for the Blackbirds, taking third in the high jump, clearing a bar of 1.70 meters. Waller took second in the women's 200-meter dash, recording a time of 24.46.

 

Gaines and Waller partnered with sophomore Amber Mitchell and junior Torrie Saunders to take gold in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 45.72. Saunders and Mitchell both chipped in a number of points in individual events, with Saunders taking third in the triple jump (11.70 meters), second in the 100-meter hurdles (14.32), and seventh in the 400-meter hurdles (1:05.19). Mitchell saw success in the 100-meter dash, taking third with a time of 12.25. She also earned one point for LIU in the 200-meter dash, clocking in at 25.43.

 

Senior Danay Spencer leapt to a mark of 11.75 meters in the triple jump, good enough for second place. Classmate Desiree Conley took fourth in the 800-meter run, clocking in with a 2:18.22, while sophomore Tricia Beckles was also fourth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.71. Waller, Mitchell, Saunders and Conley were third in the 4x400-meter relay, with a time of 3:47.8.

 

On the men's side, sophomore Wilmot Stubblefield took gold in the men's triple jump with a leap of 14.43 meters. Classmate Brian Richards contributed a number of scoring performances, including a third place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.88. He also nabbed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles, recording a 15.29.

 

Richards partnered with freshman Eric Williams, junior Robert Barnes and senior Corryl Boyd for the 4x100-meter relay, earning bronze with a time of 42.15. Boyd earned gold in the 400-meter dash with a time of 47.94, while Barnes was third recording a 48.33. Barnes was also sixth in the 200-meter dash, coming in at 22.31. Samuel Egadu closed out his senior campaign scoring points in the 400-meter dash (48.67) and the 200-meter dash (22.62).

 

In the distance events, sophomore Kenneth Wallace Whitfield was fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:53.71. Fellow sophomore Chris Welch clocked in at 1:55.13, taking fifth place. In the 5000-meter run, sophomore Rogers Kipruto was sixth, earning a time of 15:14.

 

Boyd, Neckles, Wallace Whitfield and Barnes took the top spot in the men's 4x400-meter relay event, recording a time of 3:14.92.

The women's long jump was the first event of day one and Waller got LIU off to a flying start, recording a jump of 5.79 meters in her first attempt, which ended up being the winning leap. Gaines came in second, recording a jump of 5.75 meters in her final attempt, while Mitchell also scored in the event by recording a leap of 5.45 meters.

Richards won the men's event with a leap of 7.27 meters. Boyd took third (7.09m), while junior Amire Solomon claimed fifth (6.97m). The LIU men's squad also earned three points in the 4x800 meter relay after senior Vincent Gangemi, Welch, Wallace Whitfield and senior Elmo Neckles turned in a time of 7:47.47.