Thornton-Fillyaw Women's Rookie of the Year, Gophers Set Two School Records at Landmark Championships

SELINSGROVE, Pa. - After winning the women's 800-meter run in a school-record time of 2:16.77, Goucher College women's indoor track and field first year Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw (Adelphi, Md./Cheverly STEM Education Center) was named the Landmark Conference Rookie of the Meet on Saturday.  The Gophers set a pair of school records on the day, as Dorian Cheney (Bryans Road, Md./North Point) set a school record and finished second in the high jump at 1.60 meters.

As a team, Goucher finished fifth out of seven teams, its highest finish since 2017.  The Gophers accumulated 59 points on the day.

Thornton-Fillyaw is Goucher's second straight Landmark women's indoor track and field Rookie of the Meet, as Carter Hinton-Ayodele (Bowie, Md./Bowie) won the award in 2022.

In the 800, Thornton-Fillyaw bettered her own previous school record set two weeks ago and defeated Emily Moehringer of Catholic by 1.09 seconds.  Her time is the fastest in the Landmark Conference this season and the sixth-fastest recorded in conference history.  It was also the second-fastest mark in Landmark Championship history.

Thornton-Fillyaw was also a part of Goucher's 4x400 relay that finished fourth with a time of 4:17.13.  Also making up the relay were Cheney, Tahira Bakare (Silver Spring, Md./Archbishop Carroll) and Jaelan Gabriel (Houston, Texas/Dulles).

Cheney bettered her own program record of 1.57 meters in the high jump set earlier this season.  She finished tied with Lexi Groff of Moravian at 1.60 meters, with Groff making the height on her first try while Cheney was successful on her second attempt.  Jocelynn Itterly of Elizabethtown also attempted 1.60, but did not clear the bar on her three attempts.

Hinton-Ayodele finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 10.97 meters to come in behind Remi Acord of Susquehanna.  He also qualified for the 60-meter hurdles finals, coming in sixth at 10.21 seconds, and placed fifth in the long jump at 5.27 meters.

Goucher had three of the top seven in the long jump.  Cheney was sixth at 4.92 meters, while Gabriel took seventh at 4.87 meters.  Gabriel also took home fifth in the triple jump at 10.57 meters.

Bakare and Gabriel each qualified for the finals in the 60-meter dash.  Bakare placed fifth with a season-best 8.11-second effort, while Gabriel finished in 8.19 seconds.  Bakare also took sixth in the 200, checking in at 26.99 seconds.

Sarah Roth (Canton, Ohio/Massillon Jackson) came in sixth in the weight throw with a toss of 12.62 meters.  She also reached the finals in the shot put and placed ninth at 9.73 meters.

For the Goucher men, first year Deonte Lewis (Fort Washington, Md./Crossland) qualified for the 60-meter dash final and came in sixth with a season-best time of 7.23 seconds.  Lewis also placed ninth in the 200 at 23.69 seconds, another season best.

Sean Whitfield (Beltsville, Md./DeMatha Catholic) placed 10th in the men's 800 with a time of 2:04.64.