Feb. 16, 2008

Complete Results

Landover, Md. - For the first time in six years, Bethune-Cookman University track & field finished above the lower-echelon of the conference over the weekend at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Indoor Championships held at the Prince George's Sport & Learning Complex in Landover, Md.

If any other need for proof was wanton of the clear efforts of second-year head coach Garfield Ellenwood turning around the B-CU track & field program, then this weekend could clear all nay-sayers from hear on out. The women and men's teams finished higher than they had the past six (6) years where they had traditionally finished eighth and ninth ... or, perhaps, lower.

On the men's side of things, collecting 58 points was good enough for the Wildcats to finish fourth overall in the 11-team field. The `Cats, in fact, were just six points shy of a possible tie for second place.

All-around performer Harold Rose, Jr. finished in first place in four out of seven events for the `Cats in the heptathlon as he finished second overall after a short-coming in the pole vault competition. Rose finished with a career-best 5,378 points. Rose would also finish third in the long jump with a leap of 7.23m (23-08.75).

In the pole vault competition, Rose would grab a height of 4.24m (13-11.00) for second place though competing without his own pole.

"I am very pleased with the way the team supported each other and believed that the hard work they put in would pay off," expressed head coach Garfield Ellenwood.

In other men's events, freshman Ronnie Ashe continued to set personal-best records as he blazed time of 7.87 seconds in the preliminaries. That time would become a new MEAC Indoor Championship time, allowing the Raleigh native to become the first freshman at B-CU to hold an indoor record at the conference championships. Ashe finished in first place overall with a time of 7.90 seconds in the finals.

Transfer Joel Redhead, fresh off of qualifying for a provisional NCAA spot, finished third in the men's 400 meter dash with his time of 48.30 seconds. Redhead also placed third in the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.94 in the finals.

The women finished fifth overall with a score of 51 points.

Sophomore sprinter Tavia Burke bounced back from a fifth place time (8.49) to finish second overall in the women's 60 meter hurdles with the exact same time. She was just 0.01 second behind Loreal Smith of North Carolina A&T. Junior Ron Danielle Williams finished fourth in the women's shot put with a throw of 13.45m (44-01.50).

Dianne Munroe continues to become a rising star for the women in the 60 meter dash after a sluggish start to the year. The junior from Vryheid's Lust, E.C.D., Guyana and a product of the track-heavy Essex County College in New York, finished atop the heap in the event with a time of 7.61. Her time of 7.60 seconds in the preliminaries was a new personal-best for Munroe. Munroe would bounce back with a second place finish in the 200 meter dash on a time of 24.61 seconds. Again, a personal-best time for Dianne Munroe.

The women's 4x400 meter relay squad finished second overall with a time of 3:47.87. The team of Christina Roundtree, Dianne Munroe, Alfreepha Stubbs and Rockel Mitchell all laid down some serious work to help the `Cats get closer to a possible NCAA qualifying time.

"We are looking forward to qualifying the women's 4x400 meter relay team, as well as Joel Redhead on the men's side of things in possibly two events," stated Ellenwood. "I am really proud of Harold Rose, Joel Redhead and Ronnie Ashe for their performances this weekend ... as well as Tavia [Burke] and the rest of the women. Everyone has just worked so hard for this up-and-coming program."

Several other Wildcats finished with personal-bests in their respected events. The overall winner for the MEAC Indoor Championships for the women was actually a tie between the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Hampton University with 92 points each. North Carolina A&T was third (78), Morgan State fourth (69.5) ... followed by the Wildcats of B-CU.

On the men's side, Norfolk State University blistered the competition with 170 points. Delaware State was a very distant second place with 64 points, followed by Maryland Eastern Shore (61), Bethune-Cookman (58) and North Carolina A&T (52).

For more information on the event, please call the MEAC Office at (757) 416-7100, or log on to the official MEAC website at www.MEACsports.com.