BOSTON- Monmouth University's men's track and field team will have six new
entrants at the IC4A Division I Championships after a number of impressive
efforts at the Boston Terrier Classic on Saturday night.
Junior Chris Taiwo (Budd Lake, N.J./Mt. Olive) was one of three Hawks to earn
IC4A bids in the 200m, crossing the tape in fourth place with his time of
22.02.? Taiwo also broke the Monmouth
triple jump record with his fourth place (second collegian) leap of 47' 2 ?”,
which was also an IC4A qualifier. ?Former
Hawk Guy Jackson held the old mark of 47' 1”, set in 2003. Geoff Navarro (Mays
Landing, N.J./Absegami) and Kevin Merrigan (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee), both
freshman, also qualified for IC4As in the 200m with their times of 22.14 and
22.23, respectively.? Navarro's time sets
the MU freshman mark for the 200m.?
Junior Alex Bowers (Barnegat, N.J./Central Regional) was seventh in the
triple jump with his mark of 45' 1 ?”.
“We had several great performances
from the women's team, but we were hoping for a bit more,” said head coach Joe
Compagni. ?“On the men's side, we had
some excellent performances in every event area.”
Larry Lundy (Friendsville, Pa./Montrose Area) continued his impressive
performances in the weight throw, this time taking the top collegiate position
with his throw of 60' 1 ?”, one of the best marks in the East this season.? Sophomore Tom Ciccoli (King of Prussia,
Pa./Archbishop Carroll) was fourth in the shot put with his throw of 55' 11 ?”,
while Shawn Sabo (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) was the seventh collegiate
competitor in the same event with a mark of 49' 2 ?”.
Monmouth's 4x400 relay team of Merrigan, Jason Kelsey (Ramsey, N.J./Don Bosco),
Chris Rutherford (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) and Reginald McLeod (Jersey
City, N.J./McNair Academy) will also be heading to the IC4As after turning in
their fifth place time of 3:17.80.
Rutherford, a freshman, also qualified for the
post-season event held in Boston in the 500m, finishing in 1:04.63.? After setting the Hawks freshman mark in the
500m,? he was also eighth in the 55m
hurdles (7.83).? Navarro also clocked in
a solid mark in the 55m, finishing in 6.57.
The long jump found freshman Marcus Goode (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Twp.) taking
ninth, while a pair of MU freshman took sixth and seventh in the pole
vault.? Pete Matano (Long Branch,
N.J./Long Branch) broke his own Monmouth freshman record in the pole vault with
his sixth place mark of 14' 9”.? Jason
Timmons (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) cleared a height of 14' 3 ?”, which was
seventh at the meet.? In the 5000m, Ben
Hutterer (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) ran a time of 15:08.65, while Billy Dowd (Staten
Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) ran a time of 15:36.54.
On the women's side, Michele Losey (Piscataway,
N.J./Piscataway) was third in the 400m with her time of 57.38.? Losey was also a member of MU's sixth place
4x400 relay team that finished sixth (3:55.33).?
Illiana Blackshear (West Orange, N.J./West Orange), Crystal Stein (Stewartstown,
Pa./Susquehannak) and Brittany Gibbs (Matawan, N.J./Old Bridge) also ran on
that relay team.? Christine Altland (Hazlet,
N.J./Raritan) turned in a solid mark in the 5000m, finishing in 18:29.99.
?The Hawks will compete next
week at the Penn State Nationals on Friday and Saturday, while competing at
Delaware on Saturday.
