ANAIS CONTINUES TERRIFIC SEASON AT MARYLAND INVITATIONAL MAGGIE HAYON 03/27/10 Hawks secure 17 Top Five finishes COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Sophomore Cynthia Anais (Paris, France) captured her second title in as many meets this season as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's and women's outdoor track and field teams totaled 17 top five finishes at the Maryland Invitational Saturday. Anais finished first with a time of 56.94 in the women's 400-meter dash. Freshman Emilie Ducados (Paris, France) placed second in 57.86. Anais, who was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Female Athlete of the Week for her performances at the Wake Forest Open, and Ducados were also members of the 4x400 meter relay team who took second place. Their time of 3:50.76 qualifies them for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships in May. Other members of the relay are sophomore Monique Hawkins (Randallstown, Md.) and junior Eunice Jones (Lanham, Md.). Freshman Courtney Gray (Frederick, Md.) and sophomore Vanessa Henry (Capital Heights, Md.) also took home the gold medal in their events. Gray placed first in the triple jump with a distance of 11.51 meters while Henry threw a distance of 13.96 in the shot put. Henry's distance also qualifies her for the ECAC Championships. The duo of Ducados and Hawkins were joined by freshmen Jennell Wade (White Plains, Md.) and Jasmine Benbow (White Plains, Md.) in the 4x100 meter relay and placed third with a time of 48.46. Jones brought home six points for the Lady Hawks in her fourth place performance of 4:41.11 in the 1500 meter run. Freshman Seneman Pollock (Waldorf, Md.) scored seven points for UMES in her fourth place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.63 and a seventh place finish in the long jump with a distance of 5.30 meters. In all, the Lady Hawks placed fifth out of 14 teams with a total of 67 points. The men were led once again by sophomore Akheem Gauntlett (Roselle, N.J.) as they finished fourth out of 15 teams with 69 points. Gauntlett, who was named the MEAC Male Athlete of the Week, finished second and qualified for the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America Championships, held in conjunction with the ECAC in May, in the 400-meter dash with a time of 47.96. Sophomore Johan Welter (Paris, France) also took second place and qualified for the IC4A Championships in his event, the 400-meter hurdles, with a time of 53.17. In the 110-meter hurdles, sophomore Jermol Dix ran a 15.36, which was good for fourth place. He also finished sixth in the long jump with a distance of 6.40 meters. Dix's sixth place finish came behind senior Charles Elmer (Columbia, Md.) in third with a 6.62 and freshman David Sandiford (Brooklyn, N.Y.) in fourth with a 6.52. To wrap up the track events, freshman Basil Melek finished third in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:55.64. Freshman Marcus Brown (Gaithersburg, Md.) brought in 14 points for the Hawks with his second place finish in the discus throw with a distance of 46.36 meters and a fourth place throw of 15.25 meters in the shot put. Senior James Moore (Manassas, Va.) took home fourth in the high jump with a distance of 1.93 meters. UMES continues their season next Saturday at the Hampton Invitational in Hampton, Va. and the Sun Angel Classic in Phoenix, Ariz.