From Friday March 4 to Sunday March 6, the Monmouth University track team traveled up to Boston University, Massachusetts to compete at the IC4A/ECAC (Eastern United States) Championships. This was the first Indoor IC4A/ECAC Championships since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The men and women’s team ended on a high note and with many school and personal records being broken.
“This weekend was a great finale to our 2022 indoor track & field season! It was fun to close things out with so many fantastic performances. We had three school records, two ECAC championships and several top-ten all-time performances,” said Head Coach Mike Nelson.
He continued, “I could not be prouder of this team and the resiliency they have shown after not having a season last year. We made the most of our opportunities and stepped up big when it mattered. We will now take a few weeks to regather and then it is time for outdoor track & field!”
In the relay events, the women’s 4×800 team consisting of sophomores Sydney Todd, Katie Locker, junior Grace Kearns, and senior Ashley Navarro easily became ECAC champions and ran a school record. The team had a quick time of 8:43.
Following in the men’s 800m relay, freshman Tennessee Tremain, sophomore Stone Carracio, and seniors James Hoffman and Louie DiLaurenzio ran a time of 7:26.72 to earn second place, just trailing University of Rhode Island by seconds.
In the men’s Distance Medley Relay, the team ran a 10:03 to earn sixth place. The team consisted of sophomore Matt Martino, junior Chris Rudawsky, and seniors Michael Drews and Carrington Retzios.
The women’s DMR team also scored sixth place, with sophomore Allie Pierontoni, junior Chantel Osley, senior Michaela Baker, and junior Sammi Ragenklint clocking in 11:54.
In the sprints, senior Jalen Jones ran a 48.32 to score fourth place in the finals. In the 800m preliminaries, both teammates ran personal bests.
Freshman Luke Riley ran a 1:53.92 and sophomore Scott Peterson ran a 1:55.69. In the pole vault, sophomore Dalton Yeust jumped 4.85 meters to earn a second-place finish. On the women’s side of jumps, freshman Gretel Jelmert cleared a height of 3.40 meters.
In distance, junior Sammi Ragenklint became an ECAC champion and smashed the school record with a time of 16:20.79. Following her in the race, sophomores Allie Pierontoni ran a 16:54 for fifth place while Marisa Kilgariff ran 17.17 for sixth.
For the men’s side, junior Cameron Janovic tied his personal record for a 14:45 time. In the 3000 meters, Graduate Student Mackenzie Jones, and Senior Keellyn Cummings both ran under 10 minutes for second and sixth place. Jones ran a blazing 9:44 while her teammate Keellyn Cummings ran a 9:56.
In the men’s 3000m, the team had a very strong showing with two records being broken. Sophomore Sebastian Reed ran a fast 8:10 to break the school record.
Reed succeeds Monmouth University great Kyle Mueller for the new school record. Additionally, freshman Luke Miller ran the freshman record of 8:21.
In the mid-distance, junior Grace Kearns in the 800m, ran 2:10 to earn sixth place overall. For the 500m, Chantel Osley led the team running a time of 1:18.
In the 1000m, sophomore and Massachusetts-native Aidan Gilmore tied his PR again running a 2:28. For the longer events, freshman Declan McDonnell ran a new personal best of a 4:14 while senior Matt Bodon ran a 4:16.
The elite championship concluded the successful 2022 indoor season. Next will be the season opener for Outdoor Track. The Hawks will compete at the Home Invitational from Friday, March 25 to Saturday, March 26 at Kessler Stadium.
