ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sophomore Semoy Hackett (Trinidad & Tobago) claimed meet records in both the 60-and- 200-meter dashes to help setup the Lincoln University women’s track and field relay team which took the 4x400-meter relay to win their fourth Indoor National Championship and 10th National Title overall Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Lincoln repeated as the Indoor Champions, but it was close throughout, as the Blue Tigers tallied 56 points, to Ashland’s 47 and Grand Valley State’s 47.
"The fact that we continue to win championships without an indoor track or place to train is a testament to their drive and dedication," head coach Victor Thomas said. "I was very proud of how the women responded, because we had a few injuries that first day and I didn't know if we'd be able to pull it out, but they stepped up."
Ashland entered the 4x400 relay leading Lincoln by one point and Grand Valley State by three for the top spot, but the Blue Tigers’ top relay team of sophomore Michelle Cumberbatch (Nassau, Bahamas), junior Yanique Haye (St. Catherine, Jamaica), junior Nyoke Cole (Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica) and junior Keniesha Jones (Clarendon, Jamaica) clinched the title with a time of 3:40.98.
The stage was set for the relay team thanks to the efforts of Hackett. Hackett, who had been behind St. Augustine’s Barbara Pierre throughout the year, moved passed her when it counted the most, crossing with a meet record time of 7.24 seconds to win the 60-meter dash, with Pierre coming in second with a time of 7.28 seconds. Hackett then made it a clean sweep taking the 200-meter dash with another meet record of 23.32 seconds, besting both Adams State’s Indira Spence’s time of 23.61 and Pierre’s time of 23.82. The wins for Hackett not only made her a two-time National Champion in 2010, but a seven-time National Champion overall, having won five titles last year as a freshman.
While Hackett’s 20 points were important, several other Blue Tigers made key contributions in other events on Saturday to help win the title.
Senior Janika Martell picked up six points by placing third in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.38 seconds, while three Blue Tigers combined for eight points in the 400-meter dash, with Cole coming across first for Lincoln in fourth with a time of 55.36 seconds to claim five points and Haye (55.94) and Cumberbatch (56.35) coming in seventh and eighth respectively to pick up three points.
Cole and Martell picked up a valuable four points in the 200-meter dash, with Cole coming across sixth with a time of 23.92 seconds to grab three points, while Martell’s eighth place finish with a time of 24.48 seconds added one point to the Lincoln team total.
Senior Racquel Anderson (Uniondale, NY) started the championships off well for the Blue Tigers, as she placed second in the long jump with a leap of 6.02-meters to grab eight points on the first day.
On the men’s side, Lincoln finished in fourth with 37 points, while Adams State won with 89 points. St. Augustine’s finished in second with 72 points and Abilene Christian grabbed third with 52 points. Central Missouri finished one-point behind the Blue Tigers in fifth.
Senior Gerald Bascoe tallied the first points for Lincoln on Friday, finishing third in the long jump with a leap of 7.37-meters to claim six points. Bascoe also added another two points to the team total finishing seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.69 seconds.
Junior Kimour Bruce held the top time in the 60-meter dash throughout the indoor season and completed it with a first-place finish with a time of 6.66 seconds to earn 10 points. Freshman teammate Ravel Grey was right on the heels of Bruce, finishing second with a time of 6.72 seconds to earn eight points, while junior Gavin Terrelonge came across fifth with a time of 6.82 seconds and four more points.
Freshman Steve Banton added three more points in the 400-meter dash coming across sixth with a time of 47.80 seconds.
The last four team points came thanks to the 4x400-meter relay team of junior Dwain Bryden, Banton, freshman Sabiel Anderson and junior Rupert Smith, as the group finished fifth with a time of 3:14.83.
