Two Saint Lucian athletes competed over the weekend at the 2016 Penn State National Invitational. Hosted by Pennsylvania State University at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track in University Park, PA, the meet saw Jeannelle Scheper competing unattached, and Michael James for Coppin State.

The 21-year-old Scheper has already qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in women’s High Jump. The Penn State meet was her 2016 indoor season opener, and she came close to resetting the two-year-old meet and facility record.

Scheper cleared a relatively modest 1.88m (6’2″) to win, the same height as Akron senior Claudia Garcia Jou, who was second. Pan Am Games medallist Priscilla Frederick of Antigua-Barbuda cleared 1.85m to take third in a 25-woman field, whilst Coppin State’s Deandra Daniel (1.79m) was fourth.

Meanwhile, Michael James – a junior – qualified for the Mid-Eastern Athletics Conference (MEAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships in the men’s 400m, his 48.98 seconds placing him seventh overall. This was James’ season opener at 400m, and he currently ranks 12th on the MEAC list.

James was also part of the Coppin State relay team which placed fourth in the 4x400m, along with senior Shane Green, sophomore Devon Teagle, and Alaric Coker, in a season-best time of 3:16.45, ranking sixth amongst the MEAC. The distance medley team of Ronaldo Ball, James, Mark London, and Coker also placed fourth overall, but recorded the top time in the MEAC.