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Martha Bissah completes Spartan sweep at MEAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Posted at 6:59 PM, May 05, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-05 18:59:15-04

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Martha Bissah concluded a dominant year in MEAC competition Saturday by wining gold medals in the 800 and 1,500 meters Saturday at the 2018 MEAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the campus of North Carolina A&T.

Martha Bissah.

Bissah – the conference cross country champion in the fall and MEAC Indoor MVP in February – cruised to wins in events she was the heavy favorite in coming in. She posted times of 2:05.48 in the 800 and 4:28.64 in the 1,500 to help the Spartans to a fifth-place finish in the team standings. Bissah won every individual MEAC cross country or track race she was entered in this year.

Senior Candice Higgins also scored in both middle-distance events. Higgins placed fifth in the 800 (2:11.56) and third in the 1,500 (4:36.70).

The Spartans also had two top-five finishers in the 100 meters. For the second straight day, both freshman Kiara (11.50) and junior Tyrika Lee (11.55) PRed in the shortest sprint, placing fourth and fifth, respectively. The pair also formed half of NSU’s third place 4×100 relay team, joining with T’Nai Wells and Taejah Robertson to run a season-best time of 45.64 seconds.

Lee capped her strong meet by placing fifth in the 200 meters (23.87).

Also Saturday, Robertson took fifth in the 100 hurdles (13.82) and freshman Malika Pride ran a PR for the second straight day in the 400 meters, taking sixth in 54.82.

On the men’s side, sophomore Jaylen Banks ran a PR in the 400 hurdles for the second straight day. He clocked a time of 51.51 seconds to earn the silver medal as the NSU men took sixth place overall with 58 points.

Other top-five finishes for the men were turned in by sophomore Felix Kiprotich in the 1,500 meters (fourth place, 3:57.32) and freshman Trequan Barnes in the 400 meters (fifth place, 46.81). Freshman Patrick Booker captured sixth in the pole vault after clearing 13 feet, 2.2 inches.

North Carolina A&T repeated as the team champion on the men’s side, while Florida A&M edged N.C. A&T.

Several Spartans will participate in the NCAA East Preliminary Round May 24-26. Entries will be announced later this month.