V.I. athletes have strong outings at MEAC Track Championships

Five Virgin Islanders from five different colleges competed at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference indoor track and field championships last weekend in Landover, Md.

Delaware State University junior Leslie Murray and Florida A&M senior Leon Hunt walked away with first-place medals around their necks, and Murray was a member of a record-setting relay team.

"It was a great experience. All of us have come from different programs and it was cool to have us all under the same roof going up against the best from our conference," said Leon Hunt, who is ranked 14th among the nation's best long jumpers. "It was like we were going against rival schools and friends. It was very competitive."

Hunt set a personal best in the long jump earlier this month at the Niswonger Invitational track meet, when he leaped 7.75 meters (25 feet, 4 inches). Hunt was ranked among the conference's elite for most of the indoor season and finished with 7.69 on Saturday.

"I was happy with the win, but on the other hand, I didn't hit my goal of 26 feet," said Hunt, who has competed five straight weeks and is hoping to qualify for the National Indoor Track and Field Championships in March. "I guess the transition from one facility to the next one was a little bit of a problem for me. Every place is different and has a different feel."

Murray ran the first leg of his school's 1,600-meter relay team, which smoked a conference record 3:14.89. Like always, getting off to a fast start was essential and Murray made sure to give his teammates an early boost.

"Breaking that record has always been our goal because our school set the previous record two years ago," said Murray, whose relay team added a new member before last semester. "My job is to get us as close to first place as possible before the exchange. I was right beside a guy from Norfolk State before I handed off the baton."

The team's time last weekend eclipsed last year's conference championship relay team by almost two seconds and it was Delaware State's third consecutive conference win in the event.

Murray also earned six points for the Hornets with a third-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.49 seconds. In that race, he ran alongside fellow islander Calvin Dascent, a Morgan State junior who finished eighth in 49.54.

"I've known Calvin for about a year and half and it's cool to go against other islanders," Murray said. "It was only my second open 400 race of the season, so if I get that time down a little more, maybe I can get into nationals."

Murray won the silver medal last June at the CAC Junior Championships and competed at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Canada last summer. Hunt had a rough showing at the CAC Games last summer in Puerto Rico, but is already looking toward the Pan-American Games in October.

Norfolk State senior Wanetta Kirby, the Spartans' all-purpose athlete, competed in four different events at the MEAC finals. She finished eighth in the high jump (1.65 meters) and was the third leg on the eighth-place 1,600-meter relay team. She also took ninth in the long jump (5.39 meters) and advanced to the finals in the 60-meter hurdles, but did not place.

Kirby's cousin, Seymour Walter, is a South Carolina State freshman and made his MEAC Championships debut. He now knows what it takes to compete at the college level after he took 11th in the 800 meters (1:57.91) and finished 13th in the 1-mile (4:34.38).

According to USVI track and field coach Charles Golphin, all five athletes should be in the running to represent the territory at the Pan-Am Games in Mexico.

"There's a great pipeline between the Virgin Islands and the MEAC," Golphin said last week. "Having those many athletes competing in a single conference championship was pretty special. The next few months are going to be interesting."

The college outdoor season will be in full swing by late March and each athlete will be eying the qualifications they need in order to compete at the IAAF World Championships, which will be held this summer in Daegu, South Korea.

- Contact sports writer Aaron Gray at 774-8772 ext. 352 or e-mail agray@dailynews.vi.

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