BRONX, N.Y. - The Monmouth University men's and women's track & field teams opened up the new year with several solid individual and relay finishes at the Metro Coaches' Invitational in Bronx, N.Y. on Friday afternoon. Hosted by New York University at the famous 168th Street Armory, the Hawks saw two more school records fall and two members of the men's team qualified for the IC4As.
"We had a number of areas we have to improve in a lot, but we had some great highlights in the first meet of the year" said Head Coach Joe Compagni of his teams efforts.
In a field of 33 teams, including four rival NEC schools, senior Michelle Losey (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) opened up 2010 for the Hawks with a strong second place finish in the 400 meter dash, posting a time of 56.12 and qualifying her for the ECAC Championships. Losey's performance was good enough for second place all-time in the MU annuals, giving her a monopoly of all five all-time Monmouth women's indoor finishes in the 400.
In her first efforts of the indoor season, junior Christine Altland (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) finished seventh in the mile, crossing the tape in 5:17.43. In the women's 500 meter dash, senior Crystal Stein (Stewartstown, Pa./Susquehannock) earned a fourth place finish with time of 1:17.59.
In her second event of the meet, Losey finished second again with a time of 7.70, catapulting her into a school record as she overtook former MU All-American, Tisifenee Taylor, for the Blue and White's 60 meter sprint record. Fellow sprinter Ajda Dotday (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne) finished just outside of the top-ten as she crossed the line in 7.95 for an 11th place finish. Sophomore Chris Rutherford (Toms River, .N.J./Toms River East) posted a second place finish in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.32. Graduate Sonya Sullivan (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) placed eighth overall (9.14) and junior Mary Wilks (Bridgeton, N.J./Bridgeton) finished 15th (9.53) to lead the women's hurdle crew.
In the 800 meter run, freshman Emily MacEwen (South Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) led the women's squad with an early career-best eighth place finish, crossing the line in 2:20.60.
The combination of sophomore Juliet Smith (Freedom, Pa./Freedom Area) and senior Laura Embrey (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) finished the 3000 meter run in eighth (10:43.55) and ninth (10:48.02) while senior Eric Schaffer (Wall, N.J./Wall) led the men's team with a 10th place finish (8:57.51).
Opening up the new year with an IC4A qualifying leap in the long jump was junior Jason Kelsey (Ramsey, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) who finished third overall for the Hawks with an jump of 23' .5" while sophomore Joshua Lewis (Montville, N.J.) posted a leap of 22' 4.5" to end the afternoon in fifth place. On the women's side, the senior duo of Mary Kate Walsh (Woodbury, N.J./Woodbury) and Brittany Gibbs (Matawan, N.J./Old Bridge) opened up scoring for the women's team in field events as they finished sixth (17' 4.25") and eighth (16' 10.5"), respectively.
Senior Chris Taiwo (Budd Lake, N.J./Mt. Olive) led the men's team in the triple jump as he finished third with a distance of 47' 3.75" - breaking MU's school record, one that he already held - and qualified for the IC4As for his efforts while newcomer Josh Mann (Warwick, N.J./Warwick Valley) ended the event in a fifth place finish posting a leap of 45' 9.75". Gibbs and MK Walsh flip-flopped finishes from the long jump as they went third and fifth with leaps of 38' 2.25" and 36' 1.25".
Opening up 2010 where she left off in 2009 was freshman Alison Day (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) who finished with a medalist win in high jump clearing the 5' 5" standard. Teammate Lindsey Walsh (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) finished fifth on the afternoon as she cleared 5' 3". Junior Julio Rodriguez (Bound Brook, N.J./Bound Brook) led the men's team clearing the 6' 4.25" standard for an eighth place finish.
On the throws squad, a trio of upperclassmen placed in the top-five led by reigning NEC Field Athlete of the Week, Vincent Elardo (Forked River, N.J./Lacey), who medaled in the shot put with a toss of 57' 9". Junior Tom Ciccoli (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) and senior Shawn Sabo (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) finished fourth (51' 7") and fifth (50' 8.75"), respectively. The women's team held their own in shot as well as sophomore Symmone Fisher (Coram, N.Y./Longwood) and freshman Sandra Jean-Romain (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) finished in sixth (41' 8.5") and eighth (40' 8.25") place. Elardo and Sabo ended the evening with second and third place finishes in the weight throw with throws of 55' 7.75" and 52' 2.75".
In the pole vault, sophomore Peter Matano (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) finished in third place overall as he cleared the 14' 3.25" height.
In the most exciting event of the evening, the men's 1600 sprint medley squad of Kelsey, sophomore Geoff Navarro (Mays Landing, N.J./Absegami), Taiwo and freshman Ford Palmer (Smithville, N.J./Absegami) earned a first place win for the Blue and White and shattered the MU school record by over three seconds with a time of 3:31.89.
The Hawks return to action on Thursday, January 14th for their second home meet at the MAC in program history. MU will play host to visiting Rider in a dual matchup starting at 3:00 p.m.
