Men’s Track and field were crowned the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champions after their performance at the Conference Indoor Meet held in New York. The Women’s Track and Field team finished third in the MAAC Championships.
The Hawks scored 220 points and were crowned MAAC champions for the third consecutive year and also won six out of the last seven. They dominated the competition as the second-place team were still 69 points behind.
“The men’s team had a dominating performance scoring in every event to rack up 220 points,” said Head Coach Mike Nelson. “We had numerous event champions and tons of PRs and season bests. I’d also like to thank the coaching staff for all their hard work. They got their athletes ready to perform when it mattered.” Nelson also was named the Men’s Track and Field Coach of the Year, in only his first season as coach.
The Hawks totaled ten event champions, including five in the second day of the meet. Senior Kyle Mueller ran a 14:07.39 in the 5000 which was good for a new conference and school record. Mueller was also named the Men’s Co-Most Outstanding Performer of the meet.
The blue and white took the top two spots in the 800m as freshman Ian Moore finished in first with a time of 1:54.96 and sophomore Louis DiLaurenzio placed second with a time of 1:54.99. Monmouth also took home first place in the 400m as sophomore Jalen Jones ran a time of 48.38. The 4×400 team also received gold medals for their efforts this past weekend.
The shot-put team put together an impressive performance as took home the second, third, fourth and fifth place spots. They were led by fifth year Andrew Tummino’s second place toss of 16.90m and senior Brandon Davis with a throw of 16.15 for third place. Junior Montel Johnson also took first place in the weight throw with a toss of 61’8.50”.
Sophomore Randy Showmaker won the pole event for the men with a vault of 15’9.25” while Mohamed Diagourga claimed gold in the triple jump with a distance of 48’4.75.
The Men’s Track and Field team are now 3-0 to start the season for the second consecutive season.
The Women’s team finished with 124.5 points, falling behind Rider and Quinnipiac. This is the first time the women’s team did not win the indoor championship ever since joining the MAAC prior to the 2013-2014 season.
Senior Mariah Hubbard won the triple jump for the third consecutive year. She jumped a distance of 39’1.25” in order to earn her gold medal. Sophomore Lauren Saifi won the pole vault for the Hawks with a vault of 12’3.50”. Finishing behind her was junior Taylor Clark with a height of 3.05m.
Senior Iyanna Jenkins took home silver in the 60m dash with a time of 7.80. A pair of relay teams for the Hawks finished in third place this weekend as the 4×800 clocked in at 9:15.42 and the 4×400 team finished with a time of 3:58.11.
The blue and white had a total of 52 athletes that were names to the MAAC Academic Honor Roll.
The Hawks will next compete at the Fastrack Last Chance and the Boston University meets as they prepare for the ECAC/IC4A Championships that are held beginning on Mar. 7.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
