Jamal Portis Wins Cardinals first ever NJCAA Region 20 T&F Title
Jamal Portis Wins Cardinals first ever NJCAA Region 20 T&F Title
Freshman wins the Shot Put and places 3rd in the Discus
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 - Columbia MD.
Region 20 of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) was established in March 1973 when the NJCAA reorganized the administrative structure from 19 regions, established in 1968, to 21 regions. Members of Region XIX there split to form Region 20. Prior to 1973 colleges within Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia panhandle competed in NJCAA Region 15. Region 20 became incorporated within the State of Maryland in May 2014. Region 20 has 24 members from Maryland, Western Pennsylvania, Northern Virginia and West Virginia Panhandle. Members schools compete at the Division I, Division II and Division III level in the NJCAA.
Region 20 currently stages a championship event in 7 men's sports and 9 women's sports that include: Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Golf, Lacrosse, Soccer Softball and Volleyball. In 2024, Region 20 leadership decided to add a Championship event for Outdoor Track & Field. The first championship event was hosted by Howard Community College in Columbia, MD.
Head T&F Coach Mark Pryor was able to send several athletes to this year's Region 20 Championships on May 1st. Three freshman team members were selected to represent CCBC Catonsville: Jamal Portis (Shot Put and Discus), Ronak Rami (1500m, 5,000m) and Ty'Jhawn Dorsey (400m, 200m).
Freshman Jamal Portis (Dundalk HS) has been a great addition to this year's T&F roster. He was a newcomer to the sport in high school only competing in his senior year as well as never lifting weights, which is unheard of in the throwing events which are primarily based on strength. Coach Pryor authored a 3-tier training program for Portis in preparing him for college T&F: 1.) Overall conditioning 2.) Basic Weightlifting 3.) Techniques of the Throwing Events
Jamal's first meet as a Cardinal was at the Mid-Atlantic JUCO Invitational where he had a new Personal Record in the Shot Put (14.30m) 46 ft 11in. His next meet was the Hopkins / Loyola Invite where he threw the Discus 32.86m (107ft 10in). At the Region 20 Championships, Jamal's throw in the Shot was far below his par but good enough to win the event for his team. In the discus, Jamal placed 3rd with a mark of 32.01m. Coach Pryor was pleased with his performance since Jamal had been sidelined all weekend with a slight ankle injury.
Freshman Ronak Rami ran a new personal best in the 1500m run placing 4th with a time of 4:31.44. That is an 8 sec improvement from his previous 4:39.65.
Here is the link for the results of the Region 20 T&F Championships: TFRRS | NJCAA Region 20 Outdoor Track and Field Championships - Meet Results
The team will travel down 495 to the University of Maryland campus in College Park for the Kehoe Twilight Meet on Friday, May 3rd starting at 5:30pm.
GO CARDINALS!!! #JUCOProduct