The Track and Field team this past weekend on April 15, competed at the Bucknell University Invitational in Lewisburg, PA and Moravian Invite, at Moravian University in Bethlehem, PA on Friday April 15. The men and women’s team did very well. Most of the distance and mid-distance athletes went to Bucknell while the jumps, throwers, and sprinters went to Moravian University.
Head Coach Mike Nelson noted on the invitationals, “It was a great weekend for our team at both places with several top ten performances and victories at Moravian. I’m really impressed with our student-athletes and coaches. We’re taking advantage of these opportunities and enjoying the process.”
At Moravian University, senior Jalen Jones won both the 200m and 400m in blazing times of 21.46 and 48.62. Meanwhile Yasmeen Tinsley won the 400-meter hurdles easily in 1:01.23, which is now 6th place on Monmouth’s all-time list. The past weekend had a variety of winners and top ten performances. In the 400m, Madison Latimer also won her event.
In the farther events at Moravian, junior Steven Baah-Mensah took home the gold, winning the 3000-meter steeple with a time of 9:51. In the 800-meter, junior Chantel Osley also won the event in 2:17. Additionally in the men’s 4x400m, freshman Jordan Ricketts, graduate student Tim Jacoutut, senior Jalen Jones and sophomore Matt Martino won the relay in 3:22.85. For the 400m, freshman Madison Latimer also won her event.
In the sprints, sophomore Brandon Muir took the win while junior Azez Adedokun in second together both ran under 11 seconds in the 100m. The sprints also had other victories with senior Naeem Green winning the 110mh and Danny Fenton winning the 400mh.
In the Pole Vault, senior Lauren Saifi earned the gold finishing first place with a jump of 3.65 meters. This also places her third best of all time in school history. Sophomore Connor Bennet also won his event winning the pole vault in 4.70 meters.
In the jumps, freshman Veronika Chainov won the High Jump easily. Junior Natalya Torres also had a good day, winning the Long Jump in 5.72 meters. Sophomores Colson Martin won the Long Jump, Kevin Kevelier earning the High Jump, while senior Mo Diagouraga won the Triple. Freshman Rett Schnoor in the long jump and 100 meters had marks which made the top ten of school history.
In the Javelin events, Danielle Steff took the win with a throw of 48.97 meters. In the additional throwing events, junior Mujeeb Ali won the shot put, while sophomore Natalie Rolon Issa won the women’s event as well. Senior Alexis Uzoaru threw a far 51.52 meters in the hammer throw.
Many miles away in Lewisburg, the team competed under the stadium lights during an evening of fast time. At 4pm, senior Michael Pavicic ran a new personal best of 9:16 for the 3000m steeple. Shortly after in the 1500 meters, senior Lou DiLaurenzio, sophomore Stone Carracio, and senior James Hoffman all ran under 3:50 in the 1500m while freshman Tennesee Tremain was not that far off in 3:53.
In the women’s distance events, senior Keelyn Cummings ran 17:35 in the 5000m while sophomore Marisa Kilgariff was fifth (all time in school history) in the 3000m steeple. The team had a strong showing in the 1500m, when senior Ashley Navarro ran 4:30.22 and sophomore Katie Locker ran 4:31 both running top ten school times.
For the 10,000m later in the night, sophomore Seb Reed ran a hot time of 30:21 while juniors Cam Janovic ran 31 and Jared Taylor 31:10. During the women’s event, fifth year Mackenzie Jones was very close to the school record, running a blazing 35:34 and following her was senior McKenzie Delahanty in 36:39 and sophomore Allie Pierontoni in 37:29.05.
Up next, the team only has the Virginia Challenge at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA on April 23 and the Penn Relays on April 28-30, for the regular season.
Penn Relays is the oldest Track meet in the country, dating back to 1895. Afterwards May 7-8 marks the start of the championship season at the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Outdoor Championships at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ.
