Lady Pirates Repeat At MEAC Indoor Championships; Hampton Men Are Runner-Up

Landover, Md. – For the second year in a row the Hampton Lady Pirates and the Florida A&M Rattlers won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex, in Landover, Md. Yvette Lewis of Hampton and FAMU's Kevin Hicks were named Outstanding Performers.

The Lady Pirates accumulated 145 points winning their third consecutive Indoor Track & Field title. Hampton fell 10 points short of breaking the conference record held by Delaware State set in 1986 (155). In total Hampton won five gold medals, five silver medals and one bronze in the two day event. Kellie Wells won the 60m hurdles for the second year in a row (8.17) and Maisha Pinkard won the 400m dash with a time of 55.09. Morgan State finished in a distance second with 73 points while Norfolk State followed in third with 51 points.

Sophomore Yvette Lewis, in her first year of competition broke the MEAC individual points record of 36.5 points, with a 46 point performance. The record was previously held by Delaware State's Kimberly McCollum (1986). Lewis earned points in all six events she competed in and won three gold medals in the long jump (19'10.6"), triple jump (41'6.5") and set a new recorded in high jump (5'10").

"I'm excited about both accomplishments because it's my first time competing in college," said Lewis on winning the team and individual awards. "I've been competing in six events all through high school, so I'm used to it."

Hampton's Coach Maurice Pierce was named Outstanding Coach for the third year in a row.

"I wouldn't call it a dynasty, but we finally got the program where we want it," said Coach Pierce on winning his third consecutive championship. "We put a lot of work into this program and I feel as though we can compete against any school in the country as a team or individually."

FAMU men won their second consecutive championship with 71.33 total points edging out Hampton (60.33) by total of 11 points. The Pirates were runner-ups for the second consecutive year followed by Maryland-Eastern Shore (57) in third place.

Kevin Hicks earned the Outstanding Performer award by winning the 800m (1:51.61) and mile races (4:19.50) totaling 20 points.

The Pirates recorded one first place finish, four second place finishes and a third place award. Desmond Shipp cleared a height of 4.57 meters in the pole vault to give Hampton its only gold medal in the men's competition. Christian Siegmund finished second to Shipp, while Gerell Golightly (shot put), Marvin Lewis (800-meter run) and John Bailey (60-meter dash) posted the other second place finishes for the Pirates.

Women Team Rankings: 1.Hampton (145); 2.Morgan State (73); 3. Norfolk State (51); 4. Md.-Eastern Shore (49) 4. N.C. A&T State (49); 6. Florida A&M (35); 7. S.C. State (15); 8. Howard (12); 9. Delaware St. (4); 10. Bethune-Cookman (0); 10. Coppin St. (0).

Men's Team Rankings: 1. Florida A&M (71.33); 2. Hampton (60.33); 3. Md.-Eastern Shore (57); 4. Norfolk State (52); 5. N.C. A&T State (47.33); 6. Morgan State (38); 7. Bethune-Cookman (34); 8. Delaware State (27) 9. Howard (24); Coppin State (6); S.C. State (14); 11. Coppin State (8).