April 11, 1998

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - On a sunny afternoon the day before Easter, the Maryland Track & Field team finished up their home season with several stellar performances, coming in second overall behind the United States Military Academy in the men's and women's competitions.

Senior Heather Atkinson set a school record in the hammer with a throw of 164-11, replacing her old record of 162-8. Atkinson also won the shot put (43-5.25) and took second in the javelin (124-4), qualifying for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championships, missing the national provisional standards in the hammer by only 1.22 meters.

Several underclassmen also showed what they could do on the field, as freshman Vanessa Jones won the high jump (5-3); sophomore Cathy Porter won the discus (130-4); sophomore Jamie Dorshimer won the pole vault (9-6.25); and junior Nikki Webster won the triple jump, qualifying for ECAC competition.

Nikki Webster also leaped ahead in the 200m dash to beat junior teammate Tesheya Hoist by one second, finishing in 24.80. Junior Stacey Minott rounded out the competition, coming in third in 25.76. Webster also won the 400m in 56.87. In winning the 100m dash in 12.12, Minott qualified for ECAC's. Junior Dessalyn Jolley won the 400m hurdles in 1:03.65.

On the men's side, junior Asa Heath won the 110m hurdles in 14.31, qualifying for IC4A competition. Also qualifying for IC4A's was the men's 4x100 relay team. Junior Jamie Wu won the shot put (49-10.5). In the 100m dash, junior Trevor Graves took first (10.85) and sophomore John Carr came in second (11.06). Also worth noting was freshman Jason Sexton's second place finishes in the long jump and triple jump.

Next up for the Terps is the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships on April 17-18. Atkinson will defend her title in the hammer in Disney World as Maryland strives to finish in the top half of the conference.