JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Greg Thompson crushed the competition and took home first place in the discus with a 61.39m heave, continuing his dominance in the event and setting the tone for what will be a memorable senior campaign for the London, England native.  This throw surpassed Thompson's previous school record as he continues to leave his mark in the Maryland record books.

In total, Maryland secured seven individual first-place finishes through two days of competition at the UNF Spring Break Invitational, the most first place finishes for any team competing at the meet.

Maryland crushed the field in the men's 400m. Dashawn Morris opened his outdoor season in the 400m with a bang, winning first with a blazing 46.87. Kameron Jones also secured a podium finish with a personal best third-place 47.17 in his first outdoor race of the season, Aaron Robinson finished seventh (48.33) and Colin Rowe took home eighth (48.55).

Carlos Vanzego won first and set a new lifetime best in the men's triple jump with a mark of 15.20m. Freshman Nate Moore also finished second with a strong performance in the same event with a jump of 14.73m. Continuing Terp dominance in the triple jump, Leah Blackall took the victory in the women's competition with a mark of 12.21m.

Mikella Lefebvre-Oatis earned a first place finish in the women's high jump competition with a clearance over 1.77m (5'9 ¾").

Xahria Santiago won first and set a new personal best in the women's 400m dash with a 54.08.  Santiago came back later in the competition to run 24.26 in the 200m dash.

In addition to all of the first place showings, many Terps still found podium and top-five finishes. Alexandra Lucki finished second in the women's 1500m run with a time of 4:29.48. Lucki also finished fourth in the 800m run earlier in the meet clocking a time of 2:11.17. 

Kathryn Gearhart and Brittany Lang finished 2-3 in the women's 5k with a 17:14.11 and a 17:15.66, respectively.  These are strong early season marks in the long distance events.

Freshman Mackenzie Morgan secured a top-10 finish in the 800m run, finishing 8^th in 2:13.01. Christine Laurie finished 13^th running 2:14.83.

In the women's 400m hurdles, Thaila Cooper finished fifth with a 1:01.91, Destiny Ward finished eighth with a 1:02.24, and Nadia Hackett finished ninth with a 1:02.84.

Patrick Hanley finished in ninth-place in the 5k posting a time of 14.58.51.  Hanley also competed in the 1500m earlier in the day running 4:07.94. 

Venida Fagan finished eighth in the women's 400m with a 56.62. In the women's 200m dash Jaida Smith, Cheyenne Jones and Imani Gray all had strong finishes.  Smith posted a time of 25.08 while Jones ran 25.23.

In the men's 100m dash, Cameron Vereen finished 12^th with a time of 10.84, and Andrew Alfano finished 28^th with a time of 11.21. Cameron Vereen also finished 12^th in the men's 200m dash with a 22.03.

Kamryn Henderson finished ninth in the women's shot put with a throw of 12.88m.

In the men's 1500m run, Aaron Barlev finished 14^th (3:58.56) and William Jones placed 24^th (4:03.92). In the men's 800m run, Hazem Miawad ran a 1:56.78, good for 14^th, and Ryan Scott finished in 22^nd with a 1:58.85.

Andrew Alfano finished fifth in the men's long jump, leaping 6.96m.

Bria Mack finished seventh in the women's 100m dash with a time of 12.00. Thaila Cooper finished 10^th in the 100m hurdles with a 14.56.

The track & field squads return to the track next weekend at the Pepsi Florida Relays in Gainesville, Florida.  The squad will also split to compete at the Navy Springtime Invite in Annapolis, Maryland.

-TERPS-