Fresh Zion Abdul-Wahid Leads T&F Team at Morgan State Meet
Frosh Zion Abdul-Wahid Leads T&F Team at Morgan State Meet
Soph Keynaud Randolph runs well at Hopkins / Loyola Meet
April 22, 2024 - Baltimore, MD
The Cardinal T&F team had a busy weekend competing at two outdoor track meets. Head Coach Mark Pryor sent his distance runners and thrower to the Hopkins/Loyola Invitational while the team's sprinters competed at the Legacy Meet hosted by Morgan State University. Luckily for Coach Pryor, both meets were located less than a mile from each other, so he was literally at two places at one time.
Looking at the previous results from each meet and the teams who historically attended, Coach Pryor tried to give his student-athletes the best opportunity to compete against top level competition in their respective events. John Hopkins is a NCAA Division-III school who has won an NCAA title in cross-country; thus their distance events are normally extremely competitive. Morgan State has been known for their results in the sprints (100m, 200m, 400m, 4x100r, 4x400r). Thus the need to split the team which worked out well for the athletes this weekend.
Freshman Zion Abdul-Wahid has been adjusting to the new training program as well as college competition since his arrival from Parkville High School where he competed primarily in the 100m & 200m events. Coach Pryor has transitioned Zion to the 400 meter event where his talents and potential carry the greatest level of achievement. That change in event has begun to pay off. Zion only competed in the 400m event once in high school with a modest time of :51.02. Only after graduating, did Zion run a couple of real 400m races last summer. Adjusting to the new event training as well as an increase in weightlifting has allowed this young man to begin to understand the 400m event and not just run as hard as he can like in the 100m and 200m. There is a strategy involved, race mechanics and distribution of effort that must be learned. Coach Pryor has gradually incorporated those aspects into Zion's training to help his young charge understand how to be successful. Indoors, Zion produced a career best performance of :50.58 in his new event winning at George Mason University. Zion was also able to run a new PR in the 500m event indoors with a 1:05.54. With the weather now offering warmer conditions, Zion has seen his times improve with each race. On Saturday at Morgan State, Zion ran :49.60 in the 400m as well as :22.15w in the 200m. Coach Pryor believes that if Zion can continue to train well and bring a more positive mental attitude to his races, his times will see more improvements. Here are is a link to the results of his race at Morgan State:
TFRRS | 2024 Annual Legacy Track & Field Meet - Men's 400 Meters
Sophomore Keynaud Randolph continues to lead the way for his team in the distance events (1500m, 5000m) as he has done in the Fall season in all of the team's cross-country results. Coach Pryor has been gearing Keynaud's training toward achieving a qualifying time for the NJCAA Outdoor Championships in either the 1500m or 5000m. The entry list for the distance events at the Hopkins/Loyola Invite was long and extensive. Keynaud welcomed the challenge and was on pace for most of the race but slightly fell off the desired pace in the last 200 meters. His time of 4:16.84 was an :5 second improvement from his previous career best of 4:21.01. He continues to enjoy vast improvements in his racing and understanding of how to be successful on the track translating his success from cross-country. Coach Pryor was very pleased.
Following Keynaud across the finish line in the 1500m event were teammates Ethan Bush (4:25.56), Gamaliel Adejo (4:37.69) and Ronak Rami (4:39.65). It was Gamaliel's first time running the 1500m event and Ronak improved his time by over :60 secs. Freshman Jamal Portis found his rhythm in the Discus throw and produced a valid attempt.
Here is the link to the results of the Hopkins/Loyola Invitational:
https://www.tfrrs.org/results/84540/Hopkins_Loyola_Invitational
The team travels to NCAA Division-II Shippensburg University in PA on Saturday April 27th to compete in the Paul Kaiser Classic. Coach Pryor hopes his team's focus continues and their performances improve from last weekend.
GO CARDINALS!!!!!!........... #JUCOproduct