Dukes Dominate Father Diamond Invitational

Saturday, January 7

Fairfax, Va.

James Madison University

Father Diamond Invitational

1/7/2017 7:00:00 PM | Track & Field

Father Diamond Invitational Results @JMUTrackField JMU T&F on Facebook Photo Gallery

FAIRFAX, Va. – The James Madison women's track and field team took first place at the Father Diamond Invitational at the George Mason Field House on Saturday.

The Dukes used six event wins to collect 194 points, beating second-place George Mason (152) by 42 points. Navy came in third with 140.5, followed by Morgan State (78), Mount St. Mary's (47.5) and Coppin State (33).

Senior Kennedy King won the long jump for the second year in a row, leaping a distance of 5.67 meters. She was joined on the podium by senior Ebony Owusu-Sampah, who took third with a jump of 5.51 meters.

Junior Aereale Scott led the Dukes in a sweep of the 60-meter hurdles podium with an ECAC-qualifying time of 8.80 seconds. She was followed by senior Summer Walter (8.83, also an ECAC-qualifier) and junior De'Ana Forbes (8.90).

PHOTO OF THE DAY
79757

Sophomore Sidra Morris competes at the Father Diamond Invitational. See the full gallery here.

The 60-meter dash leaderboard was also full of Dukes, with senior Annie Johnson taking first in 7.75 seconds, Scott taking second in 7.76 seconds and Forbes taking fourth in 7.87 seconds. For Scott, it was an improvement over last year's meet where she finished fifth with a time of 7.89 seconds.

Senior Tessa Mundell rounded out the individual event wins with a first-place finish in the one-mile run, crossing the line in 4:57.32.

JMU had a pair of relay teams pick up wins as well. Juniors Madeleine McCarty and Erica Gray, sophomore Elise Rasmussen and senior Carol Strock won the 4x800 relay with a time of 9:19.03. Strock and McCarty then joined sophomores Olivia Viparina and Erica Jackson in winning the distance medley in 12:03.61.

Great day to be a Duke!!!??????????? @JMUTrackField @JMUFootball
— Angelique DeMeo (@AngD3M) January 7, 2017

Sophomore Sidra Morris had a productive day on the throws, placing second in the weight throw with a mark of 14.25 meters and third in the shot put with a 12.63-meter throw, a personal record. Sophomore Dominique Johnson placed second in the shot put with a personal-record throw of 12.79 meters.

The Dukes had a pair of young sprinters on the 200-meter dash podium. Freshman Alexys Taylor placed second in 25.51 seconds and sophomore Meredith Willis placed third in 25.59 seconds.

Juniors Tyrah Burrow and Erica Gray also found the podium, finishing second in the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run, respectively.

The 4x400 relay 'A' team of junior Charlie Bell, Taylor, Willis and Burrow rounded out the Dukes' podium finishes, taking third place in 3:56.09.

PERSONAL RECORDS
Four more Dukes set new career-best marks in Fairfax. Sophomore Micaela Poggi ran the 500-meter dash in 1:20.96, junior Angelique DeMeo ran the 3,000-meter run in 10:47.77, sophomore Nicole Harrison ran the 3,000-meter run in 10:53.25 and sophomore Nikki Serratore completed the high jump with a mark of 1.55 meters.

QUOTING COACH HICKS
"I thought the girls competed well, they put in a great effort and we were able to get some ECAC standards and personal records. It was a great start to the season."

UP NEXT
The Dukes are back in action in a week when they compete at the Kentucky Invitational in Lexington, Ky. on Saturday, Jan. 14.