Results | Schedule | NEC Championship Headquarters

LANDOVER, Md. --  Senior Dwanya Freeland (Manhattan, NY/A. Philip Randolph) broke her own school record in the weight throw to capture the gold medal and help the Fairleigh Dickinson women's track and field team finish day one of the Northeast Conference Championships in fourth place at the Prince George Sports and Learning Complex.
 
It was the third time this season that Freeland has broken FDU's indoor weight throw record, reaching a distance of 18.15m (59'6.75”) on Saturday. After fouling on the first attempt, Freeland's second try sailed the farthest in the field, as she became the eighth individual women's indoor champion under head coach Sharlene Milwood-Lee. Freeland, whose toss gave FDU 10 team points, owned the school record of 17.37m, which she set her last time out at the New Balance Invitational on Feb. 1.
 
As a team, FDU is in fourth with 18.5 points. The defending champion Monmouth Hawks are in first with 42.5 points, and there is a tie for second between Sacred Heart and LIU Brooklyn, who racked up 20 points apiece on Saturday.
 
The Knights picked up 5.5 points in the high jump, courtesy of sophomore Tayona Brown (Ewing, NJ/Ewing), who cleared the bar set at 1.67m (5'5.75”) to finish in a third-place tie with Monmouth's Rachel Watkins. Later in the day, Brown continued to perform well, with a long jump distance of 5.33m (17'6”) to take sixth and tack on three more points to FDU's total.
 
On the track, senior Ashley Battle (Union, NJ/Union) qualified for Sunday's 60m hurdles final.The Union, N.J. native earned the eighth and final slot with a time of 9.08 seconds.
 
Just missing the finals in the 400m prelims, senior Lordess Shabazz (Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville) and freshman Kenesha Brown (Easton, Pa./Easton Area) finished 12th and 13th, respectively, with Shabazz checking in at 59.86 and Brown right behind in 59.88. Freshman Skye Tiller (Woodbury, N.J./Woodbury) was 12th in the 800m prelims by clocking in at 2:21.34.
 
“Dwanya Freeland (Manhattan, NY/A. Philip Randolph) started the day off for us in a big way and set the tone,” Milwood-Lee said. “Tayona Brown (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) did a great job representing us in the long jump and high jump.”

Action resumes Sunday at 9:30 a.m. beginning with the men's weight throw.