LANDOVER, Md. – Anteneh Girma got the MEAC Indoor Track & Field Championships off to a fast start for the Norfolk State men, as the Spartans' junior won the 5,000 meters on Thursday afternoon at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex.

Thursday's competition included finals in just two events, the 5,000 meters and long jump for both genders. Girma ran a 5K personal record of 15 minutes, 9.79 seconds. This marks Girma's first career MEAC track and field gold medal and gave NSU 10 points toward the team standings, good for third place in the early going behind Florida A&M (18) and Morgan State (11).

On the women's side, sophomore Ashah Koech finished fourth in the women's 5,000 meters (18:22.09) to earn NSU five points. That puts the Spartans in sixth place; Hampton leads with 19 points.

The preliminaries of the 200-meter dash were also contested Friday, and NSU freshman Trequan Barnes qualified for Saturday's event final with a time of 22.05 seconds.

Friday's second day of competition gets underway at 9 a.m.