Baltimore, MD—May 3—Landria Buckley and Daniel Kinney continued their journeys to the NCAA Regionals with some fine performances in the 2008 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field championships at Hughes Stadium on the campus of Morgan State University.

Buckely, a sophomore from Romulus, MI finished second in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 13.89 and then went on to capture the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 58.63.  Her finish in the 100 meters came as no surprise as she finished second in the event to qualify for the NCAA Regionals last year.  But her accomplishment in the 400 came as a surprise, if not a shock, to Head Coach Mike Merritt.

        
    “She’s very talented and she performed very well in the 100 meter hurdles,” said Merritt.  “But she got a wake-up call at last year’s Regionals when she realized that this was not high school where she could just waltz through the competition.  She found out that she was just another runner out there.”

        
    He continued, “I think it was the best thing that could have happened to her because she came back with more determination and a better work ethic this year.  That is when she asked me if she could run the 400 hurdles.  She has probably done better than expected.”

    
        Buckley has qualified for both events in the NCAA Regionals, May 30-31 in Tallahassee, FL.
 
      Kinney, a junior also from Romulus, MI, finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time 14.17 and third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.68.

       
     “Daniel is becoming a much better 400 hurdler,” noted Merritt.  “The key to his consistency and improvement is his work ethic.  He trains as hard as anyone we have here and he is always focused on competing.”  Kinney has qualified for the Regionals in the 400-meter hurdles.

          
  Stephen Small-Warner, a former walk-on, finished fifth in the long jump with a jump of 24 feet, 3.5 inches, good enough to also qualify for the Regionals.

       
     “Stephen has been injured most of the outdoor season,” said Merritt.  “It took a lot of guts for him to come out with a tender hamstring and perform that well.”

        
    Other Howard standouts at the MEAC championships included Thurman Sanders, who finished third in the 1,500 meters with a time 4:00.57 and Ashley Hodges, who placed sixth in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:45.62 and eighth in the 800 meters with a 2:30.07 clocking.