Lynchburg, VA - Sophomore sprinter Matthew Calinda locked himself into a nationals berth this week with his blistering victory in the 400m at the Liberty Twilight Qualifier, as the Howard Community College Dragons wrapped up their regular season schedule of meets.

Calinda's 47.87 time meets the automatic qualifying standard and will send him, along with freshman sprinter Ameer Moward, to the 2026 NJCAA Outdoor Track & Field championships next week in Hobbs, New Mexico. It will be Calinda's second trip to Nationals after qualifying for last year's meet. He currently is ranked 57th in the country for the men's 400m.

Mowad qualified for nationals earlier this season after breaking the school record for the men's 100m dash previously held by head coach Philippe DeRosier. His 10:39 in the 100m and 21:18 in the 200m met the automatic qualifying standard, and he will represent the Dragons in both events. Mowad is nationally ranked in both events, currently sitting 23rd in the men's 100m rankings and 39th in the men's 200m rankings.

Overall, the Dragons did well against tough NCAA Division I competition this week, placing multiple athletes in the top-20 of their respective events and finishing the meet as the top-scoring JUCO. The 2026 season was a major success for the Dragons, who continued to advance the program and made a national name for themselves by taking on and defeating four-year competition on the regular.

Highlights

Track Events

• Demetrius Lewis and Jared Porter tackled the men's 100m dash for the Dragons, with Lewis finishing inside the top-20 with an 11.28. Porter recorded a 11.95.
• Samone Haywood cracked the top-15 in the women's 100m dash with a 12.65. Taneya Watson was right behind her with a 12.85.
• Eight Dragons partook in the men's 200m dash. Caleb Adams finished highest with a 21.83, good enough for seventh place overall. Calinda finished thirteenth with a time of 22.37. Jaylen Etheridge (22.51), Richard Saunders (22.54), Samuel Chukwuma (22.56), Lewis (22.62), and Evan Taylor (22.69) all finished in the top-20, while Jared Porter filled out the Dragons ticket with a time of 25.66.
• Katy Spence led the way for the Dragons in the women's 200m dash with a time of 25.94, giving her a top-15 finish. Watson and Haywood both scored top-20 finishes with times of 27.01 and 27.32 respectively.
• While Calinda dominated the 400m dash, six other Dragons performed well. Adams finished tenth with a time of 49.84. Saunders was 17th with a time of 51.05, and Taylor cracked the top-20 with a time of 51.28. Rayne Ogans wrapped up his season with a time of 51.79, while Chukwuma and Ben Fry finished with times of 54.13 and 54.35 as they continued to improve.
• Spence finished ninth in the women's 400m dash with a time of 59.92.
• Jayden Gallion finished his season with a solid run in the men's 800m race, coming home thirteenth with a time of 1:58.34.
• Samuel Venegas led the way for the Dragons in the men's 1500m race, completing the day with a time of 4:37.22.

Field Events

• Chuwueloka Okafor represented the Dragons in the shot put, hammer throw, and discus. Okafor finished top-20 in all three events, scoring distances of 8.19m in the shot put, 20.08m in the discus, and 27.23m in the hammer throw.
• Watson finished 14th overall in the women's long jump, hitting a distance of 4.98m.
• Chancellor DeRosier finished his freshman year with two impressive events in the men's long jump and triple jump. DeRosier finished twelfth in the long jump with a distance of 6.17m, and tenth in the triple jump with a distance of 13.34m.
• Daniel Warner continued his great form in the javelin throw, finishing fourth with a top distance of 33.14m.

Up Next: With the regular season completed, the Dragons look ahead to the NJCAA Nationals, where Mowad and Calinda will represent Dragon Country next week.