SOMERSET, N.J. - Three Blackbirds have earned Northeast Conference honors for their individual performances this past weekend at the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina. Only two meets into their outdoor campaign, the LIU Brooklyn track and field teams have already established themselves as title contenders for the 2016 season. Senior Mica-Jonathan Petit-Homme garnered his first NEC Men's Track Athlete of the Week accolade on Tuesday. Junior Cassandra Jones was named the NEC Women's Track Athlete of the Week, while freshman Deshawne Bunion takes home his first outdoor NEC Rookie of the Week award.
Petit-Homme appears poised for a return trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The veteran hurdler lifted the lid off of the spring season by producing a second-place performance at NC State's Raleigh Relays. The Haitian-born Petit-Homme completed the 400m hurdles in 51.32, a time that was second to only that of UNC's Kenny Selmon. The performance places Petit-Homme in fifth place overall on the NCAA Division I East Region leader board. The NEC-leading time stands 2.68s under the qualifying standard for the IC4A Championships.
Jones shot out to the early-season NEC lead in a pair of sprints. Most recently, the Canadian-born Blackbird flew to a fourth-place finish in the 400m dash at the Raleigh Relays. Going up against 71 other entrants, Jones clocked in at 55.53 to immediately assume the top spot on the league leader board. The time ranks the LIU sprinter 41st overall amongst NCAA Division I East Region leaders. Two weeks earlier, Jones ran the 200m in 24.52 at the Coach O Coastal Carolina Invitational. That mark currently ranks 80th on the NCAA regional performance list.
Bunion began his first collegiate outdoor season by registering a noteworthy 400m dash time at the Raleigh Relays hosted by North Carolina State. The Garden State product flew around the track in 48.18 to jump into second place on the Northeast Conference leader board. The time is more than 1.0 second better than the IC4A Championship qualifying standard. Bunion also ran the leadoff leg for the LIU Brooklyn quartet that finished first in the 4x400m relay at NC State.