Track/Cross Country Story

Lady T-Birds place seventh in nation

NMJC women’s indoor track and field team has national champion, runner-up among its ranks


Sophomore Eunice Jepkogei of Kapsabet, Kenya, was one of four members of the NMJC women's indoor track team that earned All-American status with a fifth-place finish in the distance medley relay at the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championship March 3-4 in Manhattan, Kan.	Freshman Melesia Mafileo of the Polynesian Tonga Islands is the NJCAA national champion in women's triple jump after recording 11.79 meters at the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championship March 3-4 in Manhattan, Kan. She also placed fourth in the shot put.	Freshman Deidra Harrison of St. Catherine, Jamaica, was one of four members of the NMJC women's indoor track team that earned All-American status with a fifth-place finish in the distance medley relay at the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championship March 3-4 in Manhattan, Kan. She also helped grab sixth place in the 4x400-meter relay.

March 4 – Manhattan, KS. “Gosh dang, those girls are tough.”

New Mexico Junior College track coach Keith Blackwill was describing how his women’s indoor track team earned the ranking of No. 7 in the nation at last weekend’s National Junior College Athletics Association Indoor Track and Field National Championship.

“They had a little adversity and stepped up to the challenge,” Blackwill said.

Aside from the fact his nine-member team was by far the smallest in the top 10, he was referring to the injury of leading point scorer Melesia Mafileo. The freshman from the Polynesian Tonga Islands had qualified for five events at Nationals – the pentathlon, high jump, long jump, triple jump and shot put.

Her first event Friday was the pentathlon. While doing the hurdles, Mafileo rolled her ankle and had to be carried off the track.
“She also had a pulled hamstring,” Blackwill said. “And right then I thought, ‘We’re in trouble.’

“I thought she was done. She shouldn’t be winning with a pulled hamstring.”

But she did.

Mafileo became a national champion in the triple jump, recording 11.79 meters. She posted 12.64 meters in the shot put for fourth place, awarding her All-American status.

“She’s a tough, tough kid,” Blackwill said.

Mafileo’s determination set the tone.

“Melesia got hurt on Friday, and then placed fourth in the shot put,” Blackwill said. “The other girls saw she couldn’t even walk three hours earlier, and then she went out and did that. It just took off from there.”

Also making the All-American grade was Kashain Page of St. Mary, Jamaica, coming in as the national runner-up in the 60-meter hurdles. In another individual effort, she placed seventh in the 200-meter dash.

According to Blackwill, Page ran her personal best in the 60-meter hurdles.

“I’m extremely pleased with that,” the coach said.

Page also was part of the All-American four-by-400-meter relay with sophomore Cottrell Martin of Freeport, Grand Bahamas; freshman Deidra Harrison of St. Catherine, Jamaica; and freshman Monique Davis of El Paso, Texas. They came in sixth place with a 4:00.93.

And the list of NMJC All-Americans continues. The distance medley relay team placed fifth with a time of 13:17.05 on the legs of freshman Gabriela Rodriguez of Eunice; Harrison; freshman Melshanda Speed of Bridgton, N.J.; and sophomore Eunice Jepkogei of Kapsabet, Kenya.

Martin ran a 25.69 in the 200-meter dash, good enough for eighth place. She said the journey to Manhattan, Kan., was a long one.

“But it was good. It was exciting,” Martin said.

Terri Hannah, a freshman from Bridgton, N.J., placed eighth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.53.

“Going in at 14th on the list, she (Hannah) did pretty well,” Blackwill said.

“Going into nationals, you know sometimes you’re going to drop points where you thought you would get them and pick up points where you didn’t expect them,” said the coach who, before NMJC, helped guide seven indoor/outdoor track national championship teams.

“One of the biggest surprises was Melesia coming back to win the triple jump and get fourth in the shot put,” Blackwill said, admitting he expected a stronger performance in the pentathlon and high jump.

He said he also was pleasantly surprised by the fifth-place finish from the distance medley team.

“I try not to have any expectations of the team because you never know what they’ll do when we get there,” Blackwill said. “They showed up (at Nationals). Everyone we took scored.”

The coach said the presence of NMJC athletic trainer Richard “Doc” Lloyd was essential to the team’s success in getting Mafileo back into action.

Lloyd only said the entire thing was “an exciting event.”

Indeed. It marked the first national placement for NMJC women’s track and will kick off the NMJC track season.
“Seventh place is a really good start for us. It was a great finish (out of 30 teams at Nationals),” Blackwill said, adding descriptors such as “phenomenal” and “nerve-racking.”

“Thank goodness it’s over. Now we’ll go straight into outdoor. And if we can do as well there, I’ll be happy with that.”