PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – The Hampton University men’s and women’s cross country teams head to Maryland-Eastern Shore for the third time this season on Saturday to compete in the UMES Hawk Challenge at the UMES Driving Range/Cross Country Course.
The Pirates opened the season with back-to-back meets at UMES, finishing 6th in the Lid-Lifter Invitational on Sept. 5, before returning on Sept. 19 to finish 6th in the Cappy Anderson Invitational.
Berian White (Newark, Del.) paced the Pirates at the Lid-Lifter Invitational, finishing 30th with a 28:27.45, while
David Kimani (Kenya) paced the team at the Cappy Anderson Invitational by finishing 53rd with a time of 27:25.32.
The Lady Pirates opened their season at the UMES Cappy Anderson Invitational, finishing fourth in the team standings.
Jasmin Branch (Hampton, Va.) led the team with a 19:35.90 to finish 25th.
The Pirates finished fourth in last year’s UMES Hawk Challenge, while the Lady Pirates finished third; Norfolk State won the men’s team title in that meet, while UMES took the women’s team championship.
Bryan Brown (Upper Marlboro, Md.) is the highest-finishing returner from last year’s meet, finishing 23rd with a time of 30:17.80.
Jahlisa Smith (Plainfield, N.J.) is the highest-finishing returner for the Lady Pirates; she finished sixth in last year’s Hawk Challenge with an 18:51.83.
The Pirates and Lady Pirates each finished second in the inaugural Robert Shumake HBCU Cross Country Classic this past Saturday in Cary, N.C., with both teams finishing behind Norfolk State in the standings. Branch turned in the best finish for Hampton, coming in third after completing the 5K women’s race in 19:17.
Including Branch, four Lady Pirates finished in the top 10.
Kenya Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) ran a 19:44 to come in sixth, while Smith finished eighth after running a 20:05 and
Janean Morris (Brooklyn, N.Y.) came in ninth with a time of 20:21.
Freshman
Tyreka Arrington (Lanham, Md.) came in 17th with a 21:24, while
Adrienne Thomas (Silver Spring, Md.) also came in the top 25 by finishing 25th after running a 22:14.
Kimani led the Pirates in the HBCU Classic, finishing sixth with a 26:37 on the 8K course. White was the only other Pirate to finish in the top 10, coming in eighth with a time of 26:38. Freshman
Xavier Fraction (Sewell, N.J.) and
Mike Davenport (Pleasantville, N.J.) each finished in the top 25; Fraction came in 16th with a 27:59, while Davenport came in 21st with a 28:21.
Bradley Brown (Upper Marlboro, Md.) also came in the top 25, running a 28:34 to finish 23rd.
For more information on Hampton University cross country, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at
www.hamptonpirates.com.