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NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships East Preliminary Rounds

Meet Preview:
After a long season that began back in August for some, three UMBC track and field athletes have made it to the final portion of the season, participating in the Preliminary Rounds of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of North Florida.

Amanda Deller:
Amanda Deller came into the season having won the America East Conference Championship in the shot put four times in four occasions (two indoor, two outdoor). She built upon that streak this year by winning both the shot put title and weight throw title at the Indoor Championships, and the shot put title at the Outdoor Championships. Her performance during Indoor nabbed her the America East Indoor Field Performer of the Year. During the year she bettered her performances from years prior moving up to 49-1.75 during the indoor campaign and 48-7.25 during an outdoor season abbreviated by injury. She currently ranks as the second best female shot put athlete in UMBC history, trailing only former National Champion and multi-time All American Cleopatra Borel.

To advance to the preliminary rounds, athletes needed to have had a Top 48 mark or time in their respective event within the entire Eastern United States from Michigan to Maine to Florida to Indiana. This year, UMBC will send three athletes to Jacksonville, all who will be making their first appearance in the Preliminary Rounds: Junior Amanda Deller, Sophomore Brandan McGee, and freshman Mercedes Jackson.

We missed out on a lot of training following the indoor season due to an injury that kept her out of competition to just before the Conference meet, said throw coach, Pete Koumelis, but these extra weeks since then we have been able to make up for lost time. We are hoping to get over that fifty foot barrier as a spring board into next season. Deller competes at 1:00 PM on Thursday.

Brandan McGee:
Brandan McGee has had the longest year of the three athletes competing, having opened up on the first week of September during cross country, having led the Retrievers through the cross country season, and recording the fastest 5,000m time during indoor. Once he reached outdoor things began to pick up with an IC4A qualifying 9:12 in the steeple at the Princeton Invite. McGee followed up that performance two weeks later with an upset performance in the steeple, winning his first Conference championship by beating last years champion. In the process, he broke the school record with a 9:01.73 clocking in the event. He followed that performance up the next day with a fifth place finish in the 5,000 meter run. Were not settling with being happy to be here, revealed distance coach Matt Gittermann, our goal is to put ourselves in a position so that we can make a run at the Final Rounds and Championship heats over the next two years. McGee competes at 9:00 PM on Friday.

Mercedes Jackson:
It did not take long for freshmen Mercedes Jackson to make an impact on the UMBC Track and Field team. In her first heat of her first race, she smashed the school record in the 60 meter dash. She continued the indoor campaign lowering her 60 meter time down to 7.49 and also took down the 200 meter dash record with a time of 24.00. In the process she took first in the 60 meter dash and second in the 200 meter dash en route to being named America East Rookie of the Year. She continued the streak bettering school records in the 100 meter dash and 200 meter dashes with times of 11.66 and 23.80 respectively. At the Outdoor Conference Meet she reprised her role as America East Rookie of the Year after finishing second in the 100 meter dash and first in the 200 meter dash. The expectation is that Mercedes will be a perennial qualifier, so we will be looking for quality efforts that put us in range of the Semis and Finals for the next three years, said Head Coach David Bobb. Jackson competes first in the 100m at 6:55 PM on Thursday and at 8:25 PM in the 200m.

NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships East Preliminary Rounds

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