The Monmouth University’s men’s and women’s track and field team jumped right back into action on Saturday, Jan. 15 for the UPenn Select Meet held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, NY.
The Hawks took home victories in four events and placed second in four more, while also producing five all-time top-ten performances during the meet hosted by the University of Pennsylvania.
On the women’s side, there were several notable performances that led Monmouth to victory in three of their four total event wins and four of the five top-ten list additions.
Ashley Navarro had an impressive performance which empowered her to win the women’s mile. The redshirt senior’s time of 4:46.55 placed her second amongst the school’s all-time top-ten. Sophomore Veronica Chainov won the women’s high jump by clearing the bar with a mark of 1.71m. Vanessa Wood won her second consecutive shot put event with a throw of 13.37m, giving the sophomore a new personal best.
Yasmeen Tinsley solified two new top-ten placements after finishing in second place in the women’s 60m hurdles and third in the 400m. Her monstrous effort in the hurdles is now good for second all-time in MU’s history. The sophomore kept the energy going with her 56.85 finish in the 400m, placing her tenth all-time in school history.
Redshirt sophomore Marisa Kilgarriff earned the final top-ten performance with a new personal best in the women’s 3000m at 9:53.39 – the fastest time in Monmouth’s history.
On the men’s side, the successes continued when Louis DiLaurenzio added the school’s fifth-best men’s time at a quick 4:08.44 mile, giving the Hawk’s a clean sweep in the event.
Redshirt sophomore Brandon Muir placed second in the men’s 60m dash with a blazing time of 6.93, while senior Mujeeb Ali finished second in the men’s shot, put recording a distance of 15.49m.
In the field events, Bryce Boddie brought home a third place win for the Hawks. The sophomore leaped a mark of 14.23m, a new personal best. Juniors Dalton Yeust and Connor Bennett tied for fourth place in the men’s pole vault as they each cleared the bar at 4.50m.
On Saturday, Jan. 22, Monmouth University men’s and women’s track and field team headed back to Staten Island, NY to compete at the Villanova Invitational at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex.
DiLaurenzio had another impressive day as he knocked down the Monmouth University indoor track record in the men’s 1000m, posting a time of 2:22.03.
DiLaurenzio’s shiny new record earned him a second place finish in the event, while his teammate, Stone Caraccio, produced a fourth-place finish at 4:23.83 – placing him at the fifth-fastest time in MU’s school history.
DiLaurenzio and Caraccio were two of 10 Hawks who set new marks in their respective competitions in the school’s all-time top-ten. It was an even split between the Hawks squads, with five new women’s records and five new men’s records.
Tinsley kept the ball rolling with a win in the women’s 60m hurdle thanks to an impressive 8.67 finish. Navarro won an event for the second week in a row, this time winning the 1000m event at 2:44.58 – producing the third-fastest time in Monmouth history. Tinsley then ran the 200m in 24.83, a new personal best that places her fourth in school history in the competition. Redshirt junior Grace Mary Kearns joined the top-ten with her fellow teammates, now sitting sixth in the 1000m after finishing with a time of 2:52.28.
Sophomore Declan McDonnell entered the top-ten in the men’s mile clocking a time of 4:11.41, which earned him eighth place in Monmouth history. Redshirt sophomores Isabella Leak and Marisa Kilgarriff each produced impressive finishes during the mile that allowed them to take eighth and ninth on Monmouth’s top ten list, respectively.
Ali continued to make his dominance known with a new indoor season CAA-best weight throw of 19.04m; this is now the sixth-farthest weight thrown by a Hawk.
In the field events, Junior Keven Kevelier tied his personal record in the high jump with a first place finish, clearing the bar at 2.05m, while teammate Ahmad Brock took home the win in the triple jump with a leap of 14.49m. Those two finishes are the best marks in the conference this year. Brock now sits tied for seventh on the top-ten for the triple jump. The victories piled up as Yeust tied his personal best in the pole vault, winning the event with a jump of 4.85m.
Head Coach Mike Nelson had only good things to say about his team’s recent performances: “We had some really impressive performances last night at the Villanova Invitational. The meet started very well for us with a victory in the women’s 1000m (Ashley Navarro) followed by a school record in the men’s 1000m (Louis DiLaurenzio)!
“We had 10 all-time top-ten performances. These were in a variety of events which is what we love to see. We’re trying to be a complete track and field program, so it’s great to see outstanding marks in the weight throw, triple jump, 200m, 1000m, and mile,” continued Nelson. “Also, Dalton Yeust had some good attempts at the school record in the pole vault. Now we turn our attention to the home meet on Saturday and Sunday. We look forward to competing at OCFB. Fly Hawks!”
Up next, the Hawks will compete on their home indoor track where they will host the Monmouth Winter Classic on Saturday, Jan. 28. Monmouth will also be sending a group of athletes out to Lewisburg, PA to compete at the Bison Open hosted by Bucknell University on Friday, Jan. 27.
