June 12, 2008

DES MOINES, Iowa - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore's (UMES) hopes of adding more All-Americans to its growing stable fell just shy at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Hawks had three athletes qualify for the event, all posting top five finishes at the 2008 East Region Qualifiers. Allodin Fothergill (men'[s 400-meters), Tanisha Wisdom (women's 400-meters) and Merrecia James (women's 800-meters) all were eligible to attend the event. Each would need a top eight finish for All-American status, like Kimani Kirton earned for UMES last season.

Fothergill didn't run at nationals, opting not to attend for personal reasons. He no doubt was cheering on his fellow Hawks as both were running on Wednesday the 11th, the first day of competition. The top 16 runners in each of the Hawks' respective events would advance to the semi-final round, then the best eight to the finals. The event, hosted by Drake University, continues through Saturday, June 14th.

Unfortunately for UMES, the 100th ranked women's team in the nation, neither Wisdom nor James would advance. James came up short in the 800-meter run as she would not finish the race due to a leg injury, officially placing 27th in the nation. Not bad for the junior who gained some much needed experience and hopes to return next season.

Wisdom, who was competing in her last meet for UMES has become a respected name in the 400-meters. She was ranked as high as sixth in the nation in the indoor version of the event and came into the outdoor nationals ranked 16th in the country for 400-meter runners. Sadly for Wisdom, she didn't have the kind of race she had at the regional's where she posted a school and personal record. She came home 24th overall with a time of 54.70. Wisdom ran a 52.70 at the East Region qualifiers in Tallahassee, Fla. Her championship time was less than one second from making the semi-final round.

"I am proud of both of these young ladies," said Head Coach Ernest Barrett. "They certainly didn't run their best races here at Nationals, but they did so much to get here and worked very hard. They represented themselves, the track program, the department and university well. We are very pleased with the effort of these two athletes."

While James will begin preparation for next season, Wisdom will turn her attention to another big event, the Olympic trials, trying to run for her native country of Jamaica at the end of the month.

"Being from Jamaica, I couldn't think of a finer young lady to represent our country," said Barrett about Wisdom. "Both ladies do the country proud. We look forward to Merrecia coming back next year and wish Tanisha all the best after a stellar career here with the Hawks."