PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Sophomore Kiara Howell placed sixth in the shot put to highlight the efforts of the Norfolk State women's track team last week at the Penn Relays.

Howell led a small contingent of Spartan women who competed at the nation's oldest track meet. NSU had four entries in field events and also competed in two relays. Howell had the highest finish for the group, placing sixth out of 19 competitors in the college division of the shot put. Her best throw was 45 feet, 3 inches. Howell also finished 21st in the college section of the discus throw (142-7).

NSU's other field entries were Kaydianne McKenzie and Desmonae Gray in the college triple jump. McKenzie posted her second-best mark of the season, 38-8.25, to finish 17th. Gray was 20th with a top leap of 38-1.5.

The Spartan relay teams also performed well despite not advancing to the finals in their events. The quartet of McKenzie, Rayiana Johnson, Brittney McCants and Champagne Bell ran in the preliminaries of both the 4x100 and 4x200 relays. The group finished fifth in its heat in both events. In the 4x100, the Spartans ran a season-best time of 46.54 seconds, good enough for 24th overall out of more than 100 teams entered. In the 4x200, the group ran a time of 1 minute, 39.56 seconds, 30th overall out of 58 teams entered.

The Penn Relays served as NSU's final tune-up before the MEAC Outdoor Championships, which are scheduled for Thursday through Saturday on the campus of North Carolina A&T.

On the men's side, D'Sean Brown competed in the high jump, but did not place.