Tinsley Primed for Gold

The opening day of the Coastal Athletic Association Outdoor Championships was full of start, stop and start again just to stop some more.

In between the rain, sunshine, warm climate and threats of lightening were some impressive performances. Monmouth's Yasmeen Tinsley continued to do what she has done since arriving at the school in West Long Branch, New Jersey. She is a school record-breaking machine.

Early in the day, just as she and her fellow competitors stepped to the start line during the preliminary round of the 100-meter hurdles, yesterday, May 14, rain went from a gentle shower to a downpour. Tinsley showed that she is approaching elite status on a national level in the event. Despite the heavy rain, the senior powered to a Monmouth best and preliminary round top time of 13.28 seconds.

When the skies cleared, Tinsley proved she will be a serious threat to compete for the conference 100 meters championship as well. She ran the third best preliminary time and accomplished another school record at 11.66 seconds. In that event, Tinsley glided across the finish line with the sun beaming bright on the Marcus T. Johnson Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T.

"Being locked in at practice, being intentional in our practices," is what Tinsley credits to allowing her to succeed as both a sprinter and hurdler.

Tinsley closed her opening day with another top prelim finish in the 400-meter hurdles. She raced to the meet's only sub one minute finish, crossing the finish line at 58.43 seconds.

Today she will battle in the final round in the 100 meters, 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles.

There were champions crowned on the opening day. UNC-Wilmington's Jordyn Robbins (42.73) won the javelin throw by outlasting a talented collection of three throwers from Delaware, that finished second (Morgan Reiner, 42.59), third (Rachel Schmitt, 39.39) and fourth (38.02). This is Robbins second consecutive conference championship in the event.

In the final event on day one of the meet, Hampton's Peninah Mutisya also had to outperform three competitors from the same school. Mutisya's time of 34:36.25 was better than a trio of runners from Elon as Mikayla Jones (34:37.19), Madison Synowiec (34:43.47) and Hannah Weber (34:45.88) clinched spots two through four in a field of 18.

Monmouth had another strong performer in Rett Schnoor. She won the long jump at 5.94 meters. Over the past two seasons, Schnoor has finished fifth at the outdoor conference meet. The senior and Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey native is just one of four women in Monmouth history to jump at least six meters. Her best mark was 6.21 meters, which was recorded at the Rutgers Relays on April 19. William & Mary's Lauren Jones was second in the Coastal Athletic Association long jump final at 5.80 The third place medal went to Hampton's Danielle James who landed at 5.75.

The first day had five completed events. The meet has 21 overall. Here are the team standings going into day two.

Elon 44, Hampton 29, Williams & Mary 28, Delaware 27, Monmouth 25, Northeaster 13, UNC-Wilmington 12, Charleston 8, North Carolina A&T 4, Campbell 3, Towson 2, Hofstra 0, Stony Brook 0.