2015 Northeast Conference Indoor Track and Field Headquarters: Men | Women
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn men's track and field teams look to add two more trophies to its collections, as both teams head to Landover, Md. for the 2015 Northeast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Prince George Sports Complex.
The men were selected as frontrunners in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, while the women were picked second while earning three first-place votes. The Blackbirds returned a majority of last season's squad, which won the championship title on the men's side and placed second on the women's, while adding several newcomers who have already made their way to the top of the NEC performance list.Under the direction of head coach 2014 Indoor Coach of the Year Simon Hodnett, now in his sixteenth season, LIU athletes have already broken four program records this season and won numerous medals in regular-season competition.
The Blackbirds are also making their mark regionally, as the men's team is ranked fifth in the Northeast Region by the USTFCCCA, behind Cornell, Buffalo, Boston University and Connecticut. The women are hold the 15th spot in the region, and are less than one point behind 14th place Northeastern.
For the men, Brendon Rodney will look to defend his 200-meter dash title and more in 2015. Rodney recently ran a 20.69 in the event, well under his own NEC meet record set last year of 21.48,. He also broke his own LIU Brooklyn program record. Teammates Alistair McLean, Tyquan Dukes Kyle Bennett and Mikhail Williamson could also contribute significant points, as all are in top-seven on the performance list. Rodney also holds the top time in the 60-meter dash at 6.81, while Dukes, Tyler Cue, Williamson and McLean make up fifth through eighth on the standings.
The Blackbirds also have strong contingents in both the 400 and 500-meter dash. Rodney and teammate Mica-Jonathan Petit-Homme share the top time in the 400 at 47.76, while McLean is 0.01 seconds behind. Petit-Homme, the defending champion in the 500, has the second best time in the NEC this season at 1:04.10, while McLean and Andi Augustin are third and fourth respectively.
LIU Brooklyn should be a favorite to win the 4x400 relay, as Adam Walker-Khan, Petit-Homme, Rodney and McLean combined to run to a time of 3:08.75 last weekend at the David Hemery Invitational, breaking an LIU record. The time puts them nearly 11 seconds ahead of the second place Fairleigh Dickinson.
The Blackbirds will look to sweep the jumps on the men's side as well again this season. Kemar Lewis, last year's winner in the high jump, has the second best mark in the conference this season at 2.04m. Walker-Khan, the 2014 Rookie of the Meet, easily tops the NEC performance list in the long jump at 7.24m, while Vinh Le is fourth on the rankings. Amir Armstrong also leads the triple jump this season with a mark of 14.91, with Walker-Khan and Le rounding out the top three.
The women are also set up for success, as they own at least the top-two spots in all sprint events. Stephanie Aidoo and Bryanna Williams are 0.02 apart in the 60-meter dash, while Josephine Watson and Aidoo are even closer in the 200-meter dash, with Watson at 24.89 and Aidoo at 24.90.
Watson and Aidoo also make up the top two in the 400-meter dash, while Nichole Candelaria, Alea Stevens, Cemorne Davis and Gabriella Ade-Onojobi hold the fourth through seventh spots. Davis, Elizabeth Adesanya and Candelaria are also the top-three in the 500-meter dash, all having run their best times of the season at the David Hemery Invitational over the weekend.
Ade-Onojobi is the top contender in the 60-meter high hurdles. Her time of 8.85 is more than two-tenths of a second faster than Robert Morris' Tatianna Struble. Katrina Anderson also has a chance to defend her title in the 800-meter run, as she is currently in third on the performance list with 2:15.31.
The Blackbirds have been unstoppable in the 4x400 relay this season, winning the event at numerous meets, including at the stacked David Hemery Invite this past weekend. The top time in the conference came from Adesanya, Aidoo, Candelaria and Watson at the Terrier Invitational in January, at 3:42.99, just off LIU's program record. The time is 13 seconds faster than Wagner's, the number two squad. LIU Brooklyn is also second in the NEC in the 4x800-meter relay.
Kyaira Wright-Harmon could make a case for NEC Field Athlete of the Meet. She is tied for first in the NEC in the high jump with a mark of 1.75m, and is first outright by more than three centimeters in the triple jump. She is also second on the league performance list in the long jump at 5.54m. In other field events, Christina Abiola broke the LIU record this season in the shot put with a throw of 13.17m, good enough for third in the conference in 2014-15.
The 2015 NEC Track and Field Championships will begin on Saturday, Feb. 21 with preliminaries and trials of track events, as well as the trials and finals of six field events. The champions will be crowned Sunday, with finals of the remainder of the events beginning at 9:30 a.m.