Salisbury, MD - The 2026 season opened with a bang for Howard Community College's track & field team, as the Dragons took four gold medals and six total medals in the Lloyd Sigler Spring Meet at Salisbury University.

Howard's runners broke the school record for the men's 4x100 relay race to close out the meet that saw an impressive debut for Howard's new freshman runners. Combined with excellent returning performances from the sophomores, the season looks to be a fruitful one for HCC.

Results

Relays

• The highlight of the meet came in the men's 4x100 relay, as the Dragons smashed the school record for the event. Ameer Mowad (), Caleb Adams (Pasadena, MD/Chesapeake), Jaylen Etheridge (), and Demetrius Lewis () set a time of 41.90 en route to their victory. Howard's second team of Matthew Calinda (Hanover, MD/Meade), Roy Brooks-Foster (Millersville, MD/Old Mill), Richard Saunders (), and Samuel Chukwuma () finished third with a time of 43.80.
• Adams, Etheridge, Saunders, and Calinda teamed up to take down the men's 4x400 relay, securing gold with a time of 3:29.47. The Dragons locked down the top five, with the team of Rayne Ogans (), Samuel Venegas (Silver Spring, MD/James Hubert Blake), Ben Fry (Columbia, MD/Wilde Lake), and Jayden Gallion (Glendale, MD/CMIT Academy) finishing fourth with a 3:42.63, while Lewis, Mowad, Chukwuma, and Daniel Warner (Marriottsville, MD/Marriotts Ridge) finished fifth with a time of 3:46.76.

Sprints

• Ameer Mowad () scored his first victory for the Dragons with a gold in the men's 100m race, scoring the victory with a time of 10.86. Roy Brooks-Foster (Millersville, MD/Old Mill) was second best for the Dragons, finishing 15th with a time of 11.91. Jared Porter () came home with a 12.89, third best of the Dragons who took on the event.
• Demetrius Lewis () scored the gold in the men's 200m final, taking home first with a time of 22.24. Lewis was the only Dragon to crack the top ten, as Roy Brooks-Foster (Millersville, MD/Old Mill) was second among the team with a 24.11 and 17th-place finish. Daniel Warner (Marriottsville, MD/Marriotts Ridge) secured 22nd with a time of 24.57, while Matthew Calinda (Hanover, MD/Meade) (25.68) and Jared Porter () (26.15) finished outside the top-30.
• Caleb Adams (Pasadena, MD/Chesapeake) squeezed onto the podium in the men's 400m with a 50.15, good enough for third. Richard Saunders () managed a top-ten with a 51.52, while Jaylen Etheridge () (13th - 52.17) and Rayne Ogans () (16th - 52.87) both finished in the top-20. Samuel Chukwuma () set a personal best in the event with a 53.24 in 17th.
• Katy Spence (Jessup, MD/Meade) and Samone Haywood (Columbia, MD/Hammond) were fantastic in the women's 200m, as they both finished in the top-ten. Spence came home fourth with a 26.94, while Haywood scored a sixth with a 27.59.
• Samone Haywood (Columbia, MD/Hammond) secured a top-five finish in the women's 100m with a time of 13.13, good for a personal best and fifth overall.
• Katy Spence (Jessup, MD/Meade) secured a top-ten finish in the women's 100m hurdles, with a seventh place run and a time of 17.45.
• Daniel Warner (Marriottsville, MD/Marriotts Ridge) just missed out on the top ten in the men's 110m hurdles, finishing 13th with a time of 18.59.

Distance

• Jayden Gallion (Glendale, MD/CMIT Academy) led the way for the Dragons in the men's 1500m, finishing seventh with a 4:19.53. Samuel Venegas (Silver Spring, MD/James Hubert Blake) managed to collect a top-20 with a 20th-place finish and a 4:43.66. Jason Winter and Ben Fry (Columbia, MD/Wilde Lake) finished within the top-30 in their first attempts at the race.
• Jason Winter led the Dragons in the men's 5000m, finished 24th with a 19:25.18.

Throws

• Chukwueloka Okafor (Burtonsville, MD/Paint Branch) showed up in the hammer throw and shot put with a pair of top-ten placements. Okafor was ninth in the hammer throw with a distance of 30.22m, and tenth in the shot put with a distance of 8.70m.
• Simisola Aileru () fouled out of the women's hammer throw, but managed a top-15 in the shot put with a distance of 6.08m in her first collegiate competition.

The Dragons next face off in the Phoenix Invitational at Elon University this Saturday for their second meet of the season!