Ray Wins Both Hurdle Events at IC4A

Sunday, May 13

Princeton, N.J.

All Day

Maryland

ECAC/IC4A Championships

5/13/2012 8:00:00 AM | Track & Field

By: Maryland Athletics

May 13, 2012

Complete Women's (ECAC) Results

Complete Men's (IC4A) Results

PRINCETON, N.J. - Zack Ray won both hurdle events by 0.01 seconds to pace the University of Maryland's five event titles over the weekend at the IC4A / ECAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Princeton University.

Ray had career-bests in each event to earn photo-finish victories in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles on Sunday. He joined fellow senior Jon Hill, who cleared a career-best 7 feet, 2.25 inches to win the men's high jump, as individual champions in the 136th running of the IC4A Outdoor Championships.

Senior Kiani Profit won the women's 400-meter hurdle title Sunday just before Ray took the men's win in the same event. Profit , a three-time All-American for the Terps in the combined events, ran 58.40 seconds to win the ECAC final on Sunday.

Maryland's 4x800 relay team of Maryam Fikri, Julie Sinkovitz, Taylor Bumpas and Myah Hicks easily won the event in a school-record time of 8:44.98. They cruised to the win over Duquesne, which was second in 8:52.15. The Terps were seeded fourth coming into Sunday's final. The old school record of 8:47.08 was set earlier this season at the Penn Relays.

The Maryland school record was one of two to fall during the 27th annual ECAC Championships for the women. Senior Ashley Cromartie ran 10:34.62 in the women's 3,000 steeplechase on Friday to finish fourth and break her own school record of 10:39.44, set at this season's Atlantic Coast Conference Championships.

Maryland's women scored 43 points to place fourth in the team standings, only one point behind Cornell. Duke won the women's team championship with 77.5 points, with Connecticut in second at 59.

The 10 points won in each of the three events gave the Maryland men 30 points for the meet and a 10th-place finish in the team standings. George Mason had 59 points to win the men's team title, ahead of Cornell (52), Hampton (47) and UMES (44).

The victories by the Maryland men marked only the second time in more than 25 years the Terrapins had won events at the eastern championships. The Terrapins captured the 4x100 relay in 2006.

Both point totals and finishes were the best for the Terrapins in head coach Andrew Valmon's nine seasons at Maryland.

Maryland will compete next in the NCAA East Regional Prelims to be held May 24 to 26 in Jacksonville, Fla. The prelims serve as the first and second rounds of the NCAA National Championships. Invitations to the prelims will be based on the top marks in both the East and West regions and will be announced later this week.

MARYLAND NOTES

Ray's mark of 13.99 in Sunday's final of the men's 110-meter hurdles made him only the eighth Terrapin in history to break 14 seconds in the event and the third in 19 years. He won the IC4A title by edging Ackeem Smith of UMES, who finished in 14.00, and Tashuan Hill of Pittsburgh, who was timed in 14.02. Ray ran 14.02 in Saturday's qualifying, breaking his previous career-best of 14.10 set at this season's ACC Outdoor.

He came back just over an hour later to post a career-best of 50.84 to win the men's 400 hurdles in 50.84. His mark was nearly a full second better than his previous career-best (51.76) and moves him into fourth all-time at Maryland. It was the best mark in the long hurdles by a Terrapin male since 1979. He out-leaned Jibri Victorian of Coppin State in the final, who was clocked in 50.85.d

Hill came into the meet with a previous career-best of 7-1.50, set at this season's ACC Championships. He and Michael Krone of Duke had been tied through each height until Hill cleared 7-2.25 on his first attempt, while Krone missed all three of his tries at that height to finish second. Hill's mark moves him into sixth all-time outdoors at Maryland.

Sumanth Kuppalli ran 3:50.81 in Saturday's qualifying heats in the men's 1,500, his second-best mark of the season. He missed making Sunday's final by less than a second.

Profit had the top qualifying mark in the women's 400 hurdles from Saturday, going 59.42. Her finals time of 58.40 was comfortably ahead of Shona Potrzuski of St. Peter's, who ran 59.67.

Profit also scored for the Terrapin in the long jump with an eighth-place finish of 18-11.25, her second-best mark of the season.

Moriah Young scored eight points for the Maryland women with finishes in two throwing events. He was third in the hammer at 184-3, an inch off her career-best and her best of this outdoor season by nearly six feet. Young was seventh in the shot put at 47-0.25.

Freshman Thea LaFond was fourth in the triple jump at 41-3, her second best of the season and her second time this season over 41 feet.

Sophomore Amina Smith tied for fourth in the high jump at 5-8.75.

Freshman Myah Hicks was 10th Sunday in the women's 1,500 final. She ran a career-best 4:27.33 on Saturday to qualify, improving her 7th-best mark all-time at Maryland.

- Terps -