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Feb. 17, 2005 PRINCESS ANNE, MD - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) indoor track and field team will wrap up their season this weekend, traveling to Landover, MD to compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championships on Friday, February 18 and Saturday, February 19. The Championships, held at the Prince George's County Sports and Learning Complex, will feature all 11 MEAC institutions. The UMES women's team, searching for their first indoor title, will look to dethrone defending champion Hampton University while the men's squad will challenge Florida A&M (FAMU) for their first title in eight years. The Lady Hawks are led by NCAA provisional qualifiers Petagay O'Connor and Eva Slavikova. O'Connor, who provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships on January 8, will look to place high in the long jump and triple jump while Slavikova, who will compete in the 3000m and mile run, will look to net her sixth and seventh individual titles of the season. Slavikova, the only woman in the conference to run a mile under 5:00 this year, has won five titles in four different distance events this season. The Czech Republic native also owns the top women's conference times in both the 3000m and mile run, outrunning the second place MEAC 3000m finisher by a full minute. Her 9:27 finish in the 3000m on January 29 eclipsed the MEAC championship record time and provisionally qualified her for the NCAA Championships in March. The Fighting Hawks, whose last indoor title came in 1997, will look for strong performances from senior Barnabas Togom and sophomores Kimani Kirton and Dwayne Robinson. Togom, winner of the men's 2004 Cross Country Outstanding Performer award, owns the top conference times in the 3000m and 5000m run and will compete in the 5000m and mile run this weekend. Kirton, a provisional NCAA qualifier in his freshman year, holds the top three conference throws in the shot put this season and is the only person in the MEAC to throw over 50 feet this year. Robinson, the NAIA 110m hurdle champion, owns the top two conference marks in the 60m hurdles and broke UMES' record in the same event on January 15. For more information on the MEAC Indoor Championships, visit www.meacsports.com. |
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