Men’s and Women’s Track and Field came out on top this past weekend at the Monmouth Winter Collegiate Invitational, while a small group of middle distance runners were sent up to Boston University to compete in the Valentine Invitational.
The meet held at Boston University was accentuated by graduate student Allie Wilson crossing the finish line at 2:02.65 in the 800 meters, crushing her pervious school record by more than three seconds. This time for the 800 meters is now the No. 2 time in all of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
At the OceanFirst Bank Center, the Hawks faced teams from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Wagner College, Saint Peter’s University and Lafayette College. Both teams blew the competition away with the men scoring 278 points and the women scoring 296, which is more than double the amount of points that the second place team on either side accumulated.
The women’s team finished the meet with numerous Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) qualifying marks as well as a few new personal records.
Senior Brianna Stratz finished sixth overall in the 1000 meters with a time of 2:43.38, which now qualifies her for the U.S. Championships in this event.
Sophomore Chibuzo Amonu won both weight throw and shot put with ECAC qualifying marks of 17.46 meters and 46’7”. Both of these marks are personal records for her. Senior Onnie Coles (43’8”), junior Jordan Wildermuth (43’2”), and freshman Kassie Ketcho (42’8”) placed 2-3-4 behind Amonu.
“It’s overwhelming because I’ve been working really hard this whole season, so it’s really good to see it pay off,” Amonu said about her new personal records.
Junior Mariah Hubbard also got personal record marks in long jump and triple jump events. Hubbard came in first for the triple jump and second in the long jump with marks of 40’ and 19’2”.
“I feel strong and confident. [The meet] definitely is getting me ready for our conference championships next week,” Hubbard said.
Senior Ashley McKinnon took first place for the long jump event with a mark of 19’6” while senior Patrice Baston took third with a mark of 18’5”. Both of these marks qualify for the ECAC.
A relay team of sophomore Kyra Velock, senior Amber Stratz, and freshmen Sarah Crissman and Ashley Navarro produced a new facility record for the OceanFirst Bank Center with an ECAC qualifying time of 9:14.6 in the 4×800 event.
For the high jump event, senior Chloe Angelini won by clearing 5’4” and sophomore Samantha Fellowes cleared 5’2.5”, landing her behind her teammate in second place.
Freshman Madison Turosinski cleared 10 feet in the pole vault event, which tied her for second place with Wagner College freshman Hannah Cloutier.
Amber Stratz won the 800 meter event with a time of 2:15.65. Crissman finished second with a time of 2:20.62 and sophomore Kerri Powers finished third with a time of 2:22.
Sophomore Trish Donahue ran the 500-meter dash in 1:20.87, placing her in third for the event.
The men’s team also finished the meet with a victory and multiple qualifying marks for the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A).
Seniors Darius Howe and Michael Pepper both qualified for the IC4A in the triple jump event with marks of 48’4” and 47’9”, respectively.
Redshirt senior Corey Murphy won the shot put with a mark of 61’4.5” and sophomore Andrew Huisman came in fourth with an IC4A qualifying mark of 47’9”.
In the long jump event, freshman Dorian Jackson (7.14m), junior Khalid Slocum (7.10m), Pepper (7.09m), and freshman Nadale Buntin (7.05m) all had IC4A qualifying marks, finishing 2-3-4-5 behind Montclair State senior George Alexandris (7.31m).
Juniors Daniel Gilligan (16.44m) and Brandon Davis (16.01m) placed second and third in weight throwing.
Junior Dan Maida finished the mile in 4:17.83, placing him in first. Teammates junior Henry Sappey (4:24.27) and freshman Matt Bodon (4:26.45) came behind Maida in second and third place.
In the 60-meter dash, Slocum came in first with a time of 6.85 seconds with sophomore Joe Miguerson and junior Ibrahim Massey following in second and third with times of 7.01 seconds and 7.07 seconds.
“We love competing at home,” said Head Coach Joe Compagni. “It’s great to be here where our whole team can be here, families can be here, people from campus can be here, and it was a fun way to tune up for the conference championships next week.”
The Hawks will be travelling up to the New York Armory on Saturday to compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships, where the women’s team will be competing for their sixth straight title and the men will be competing for their fifth title in the last six years.
“It’s going to be very competitive,” said Compagni. “The conference continues to get better and better. We feel like we have a very strong team, but we certainly are expecting it to be a big challenge for us.”
PHOTO TAKEN by Karlee Sell
