Columbia, MD - It was a heavyweight battle last weekend between the top Region 20 track & field teams, as Howard Community College and Hagerstown Community College clashed for the Region 20 championship!
The annual Mid-Atlantic Track & Field Invitational saw top teams and athletes from around Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey brave bad weather to showcase their talents. The overall victory and 2025 Region 20 title came down to Hagerstown and Howard, with the Dragons finishing second by just four points.
The Dragons saw clutch performances from sprinters
Divine Rice (Columbia, MD/Long Reach), Rojae Campbell, and
Iyona Davis (Annapolis, MD/Annapolis) keep them into contention deep into the meet. Key individual performances, including
Pedro Egudu's (Ellicott City, MD/Howard) decathlon performance and three additional events, allowed Howard to fight back after trailing Hagerstown on the first day. While Howard would ultimately finish second, the overall points they accumulated would have crushed their results from the previous years meet.
For a full list of results from each team and event,
click here!
Highlights
- Divine Rice (Columbia, MD/Long Reach) and Rojae Campbell came up clutch in the men's 100m, scoring a double podium. Rice set a personal record in the prelims with a 10.72, then nearly beat that in the main event with a 10.75. Campbell came home in third with a 10.96, up from the 11.06 he ran in the prelims.
- Iyona Davis (Annapolis, MD/Annapolis) was fastest overall in the prelims for the women's 100m, finishing with a 12.55. However, in the main event, she could only manage fifth with a 12.85. Aniya Clerisier (Orlando, FL/Wilde Lake) qualified for the main race with a time of 13.28, then went faster in the main with a 13.22 to secure sixth place.
- Pedro Egudu (Ellicott City, MD/Howard) was the only participant in the men's decathlon, but still gained valuable points for the Dragons. Egudu ran a 12.15 in the 100m, a 23.48 in the 110m hurdles, a 1:01.85 in the 400m, and a 5:56.80 in the 1500m. He scored a distance of 19.02m in the discus throw, a 1.52m jump in the high jump, a 31.48m throw in the javelin, a 6.55m long jump, a 2.30m pole vault, and a 9.66m shot put.
- Larry Brent (Columbia, MD/St. Vincent Palotti) finished third overall in the men's 110m hurdles, finishing with a time of 17.73. Brent also finished third in the men's 400m hurdles with a 56.85.
- Divine Rice (Columbia, MD/Long Reach), Rojae Campbell, and Nazeer England (Columbia, MD/Wilde Lake) all qualified for the men's 200m, with Rice finishing second in the prelims. In the main event, Rice and Campbell secured a double podium, as Rice set a personal record of 21.85. Campbell set his own personal record of 22.13, securing valuable points for the Dragons.
- Iyona Davis (Annapolis, MD/Annapolis) and Aniya Clerisier (Orlando, FL/Wilde Lake) qualified for the women's 200m, with Davis going second-fastest in the prelims and Clerisier setting a new personal record of 26.64. Davis would take the main event, running a 25.79.
- The men's 400m saw three Dragons in the top five, with Matthew Calinda (Hanover, MD/Meade) and Nazeer England (Columbia, MD/Wilde Lake) scoring podiums. Calinda finished second with a time of 49.63, while England scored a personal record with a 49.66.
- Jayden Gallion (Glendale, MD/CMIT Academy) and Brandon McMillen (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills) showed up in the mid-distance runs. The pair finished third and fourth respectively in the men's 800m, then finished one-two in the men's 1500m. Gallion set a personal record in his 1500m victory with a 4:15.78.
- Jared Porter () braved freezing temperatures on Saturday in the men's 3000m steeplechase, coming home fourth overall.
- Ryan Thibaudeau (Fulton, MD/Reservoir) was third in both long-distance runs, the men's 5000m and men's 10000m. At one point in the latter, he had nearly a half-minute lead over second place.
- The Dragons were in their element in the relays, scoring podiums in all three. The team of Rojae Campbell, Aiden Moore (Beltsville, MD/St. Vincent Palotti), Nazeer England (Columbia, MD/Wilde Lake), and Divine Rice (Columbia, MD/Long Reach) comfortably won the men's 4x100m relay, while Rice, Moore, Anthony Robinson (Greenbelt, MD/St. Vincent Palotti), and Matthew Calinda (Hanover, MD/Meade) came home third in the 4x400m relay to close out the meet. The men's 4x800m race on Friday saw the wildest moment of the meet, as Jayden Gallion (Glendale, MD/CMIT Academy), Jared Porter (), Mife Osinubi, and Brandon McMillen (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills) put on a performance for the ages. McMillen was half a lap behind when his final stint began, yet made up the deficit and passed his Hagerstown rival on the final stretch to snatch the win.
- Along with his decathlon performance, Pedro Egudu (Ellicott City, MD/Howard) was dominant in the jumps. Egudu finished third overall in the high jump with a 1.72 m, a new personal record. Egudu took overall victory in the long jump with a 6.40m jump, while also winning the triple jump with a 12.32m jump. Emmanuel Addo (Columbia, MD/Hammond) was fourth overall in the high jump, while Teh Wessah finished fifth overall in the long jump.
- Temiloluwa Akinsanya (Columbia, MD/Long Reach) took victory in the women's discus throw with a season best of 28.14m. Cheyenne Ellis (Eldersburg, MD/Century) was third overall with a 26.44m throw. Ellis was fourth overall in the women's hammer throw while Akinsanya was fifth, and the two cracked the top ten in the women's javelin throw with Ellis getting third overall. Ellis won the women's shot put with a massive 10.25m throw, while Akinsanya finished second with an 8.85m throw.
- Chuwueloka Okafor finished fifth overall in the men's discus with a 23.62m throw. Okafor was fourth overall in the men's hammer throw, fifth in the shot put, and fifth overall in the men's javelin throw.
The Dragons next head to Essex County for the Wolverine Classic this Friday at 10:00 AM!
