LANDOVER, Md. – Led by a first-place finish from Josef Tessema, the Norfolk State men's track team compiled 30 points in the 5,000 meters to storm to a big early lead on day 1 of the MEAC Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex on Thursday.

NSU tallied 36 points through the first two events, followed by North Carolina A&T with 12.

Tessema repeated as men's indoor 5,000-meter champion with a winning time of 14 minutes, 47.74 seconds to lead NSU, which took six of the top eight places in the event. Another senior, Philemon Kimutai, finished behind Tessema in second place, in 14:59.75. Sophomore Damtew Adnew (15:05.50) and senior Amos Kipkosgei (15:05.87) also finished in the top five, taking fourth and fifth places, respectively.

Sophomore Nathnael Meseret and junior Vincent Rono rounded out the scoring positions by taking seventh and eighth places, respectively.

In the other event final contested Friday, freshman D'Sean Brown posted a season-best long jump of 22 feet, 6.25 inches to place third and give NSU a first-day total of 36 points.

The only other track event on Thursday was the 200-meter prelims. Sean Holston, two-time defending MEAC indoor 200m champion, won his heat and qualified for Saturday's final.

Competition resumes at 9 a.m. Friday morning.