GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Hampton University women’s track & field team took home three individual titles Saturday at North Carolina A&T University in the 2008 Murray Neely Invitational.
Freshman Jahlisa Smith (Plainfield, N.J.) was the only Lady Pirate to win a track event, taking the 1,500-meter run in just over four minutes, 49 seconds.
Hampton’s other titles came in the field events: Rachel Lewis (Chesterfield, Va.) won the long jump with a distance of 6.04 meters, and Jocelyn Watkins (Ellenwood, Ga.) threw the shot put 12.70 meters for the title.
Below are the Lady Pirates’ other highlights from the weekend in Greensboro:
100-meter dash: Septima Glenn (Taylors, S.C.) and freshman Racquel Vassell (Irvington, N.J.) came home ninth and 10th, respectively, behind race winner Damola Osayomi. Glenn finished the race in 12.28 seconds, while it took Vassell 12.41 seconds to finish.
400-meter run: Sophomore Marlene Belizaire (Hampton, Va.) finished 10th with a time of 56.22, nearly three seconds behind race winner Queen Harrison from Virginia Tech.
1,500-meter run: Not only did Jahlisa Smith win the race, but Kenya Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) finished third and Janean Morris (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished fourth. Jones finished with a time of 4:55.70, while Morris completed the race in 5:06.39.
3,000-meter run: Freshman Jasmin Branch (Hampton, Va.) finished a distant second to Davidson’s Heather Conarroe, who finished the race in 11:02.53. Branch completed the race in 11:19.32, while Adrienne Thomas (Silver Springs, Md.) came home eighth in 11:50.
100-meter hurdles: Virginia Tech’s Harrison won this event as well, though three Lady Pirates placed. Michelle Smith (Teaneck, N.J.) finished sixth in 14.12, Vassell came home seventh (14.18) and Chandra Pulliam (Burlington, N.C.) finished eighth in 14-19.
400-meter hurdles: Pulliam finished sixth in 1:03.21, nearly four seconds behind race winner Latoya James of North Carolina. Michelle Smith finished ninth (1:04.53).
4x100-meter relay: Hampton finished sixth in the relay with a time of 46.36. Virginia Tech won the event in 45.44 seconds.
Shot put: Watkins won the event, but junior Nielah Blaylock (Oklahoma City, Okla.) finished third with a distance of 12.28 meters.
Discus: Blaylock finished fourth, tossing the discus 26.60 meters. Team Haiti’s Dayana Octavien won the event with a distance of 52.26.
The Hampton University track & field teams return to action Saturday, April 12 for the UNC Open in Chapel Hill, N.C. For more information on Hampton University track & field, call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811 or visit the official Hampton University athletics website at
www.hamptonpirates.com.
