NEWARK, Del.- Monmouth University's men's track & field team won the Delaware Invitational on Friday night, edging out 11 other teams with seven individual first place finishes.
The Hawks scored 220 team points, followed by host Delaware (196), West Chester, Delaware State, Millersville and seven other teams including St. Joe's and Villanova.
Sophomores Reggie McLeod (Jersey City, N.J./Ronald E. McNair) and Julio Rodriguez (Bound Brook, N.J./Bound Brook) won the 500m (1:08.06) and the high jump, respectively. Three freshman clocked in with top performances, Geoff Navarro (Mays Landing, N.J./Absegami) in the 60m, Kevin Merrigan (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) in the 400m and Chris Rutherford (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) in the 60m hurdles (8.65).
Two throwers earned top marks, with Vincent Elardo (Forked River, N.J./Lacey) winning the shot put with his throw of 52' 2” and Larry Lundy's (Friendsville, Pa./Montrose Area) throw of 54' 5 ?” taking home first in the weight throw. Junior Chris Taiwo (Budd Lake, N.J./Mt. Olive) won the final event of the day, the triple jump, with a mark of 45' 1/2".
Taiwo also took a second place finish in the 60m dash, crossing the tape in 7.09. Rutherford's time of 1:08.76 was also second in the 500m, while senior Yasser Barr (Lincroft, N.J./Middletown South) claimed the second spot in the 1000m.
Elardo was not done scoring on the night, finishing third in the weight throw with his throw of 52' 4 ?”. Ben Hutterer (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) and Kollan Reevey (Pemberton, N.J./Pemberton) also took the bronze in the mile and the high jump, respectively. Shawn Sabo's (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) throw of 49' 8 ?” in the shot put was third, while the junior took home fourth in the weight throw. Navarro was also third in the 400m for the Hawks.
Merrigan turned in a fourth place performance in the 60m, with Alex Bowers (Bayville, N.J./Central Regional) also fourth in the long jump. Senior Chris Tanzola (Long Valley, N.J./Mt. Olive) finished fourth in the 60m hurdles.
Monmouth had five athletes earn fifth place, led by Tom Ciccoli (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) in the shot put. Jason Kelsey (Ramsey, N.J./Don Bosco) in the 500m, Zach Krupka (Allentown, Pa./Bedford Area) in the 60m hurdles, Vincent Improta (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech) in the mile and Joshua Lewis () in the long jump rounded out the fifth place efforts. Lundy was sixth in the shot put while freshman David Balder (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph's) was also sixth best in the 500m.
MU will be back in action next Friday, January 9, at the NYU Gotham Cup held at the New York Armory.
