BRONX, N.Y. - In the last meet before the Northeast Conference Championships, the Monmouth University men's and women's track and field teams had several top finishes at the Lafayette/Rider hosted Invitational at the Armory in Bronx, N.Y. In their third trip to the famed track in New York City, the Blue and White saw two school records fall, another tied, and sent two more athletes to the ECAC Championships with qualifying marks.
"We accomplished a lot of what we wanted to in our last tune up before the NEC Indoor Championships," said Head Coach Joe Compagni.
In keeping with her record breaking theme over the last three meets, senior sprinter Michelle Losey (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) started the trend of top finishes for MU over the course of the evening with her second place finish in the 60 meter sprint. Her time of 7.68 broke the school record for the third time this season in that event. Freshman Lachelle Wallace (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) finished fourth in the same event with a time of 7.86. On the men's side, senior Chris Taiwo (Budd Lake, N.J./Mt. Olive) and freshman Marcus Goode (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township) finished eighth and ninth in the 60 sprint crossing the tape in 7.11 and 7.15, respectively.
Taiwo also went on to medal in the 200 meter run (22.00) with the fourth best time in school history in that event. A trio of Hawks finished in the top-ten of the 200, led by sophomore Ajda Dotday (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne) who finished third overall (25.88). Wallace (sixth - 26.04) and senior Crystal Stein (Stewartstown, Pa./Susquehannock) (seventh - 26.13) rounded out top finishes for MU in the 200. Newcomer Rachel Watkins (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) finished fifth overall in the 400 meter run with a time of 59.06 while junior Zachory Krupka (Allentown, Pa./Allentown) led the men's team with his sixth place finish (50.73).
In her signature event, Stein led the women's team with a medalist win in the 500 meter dash, as she crossed the tape in 1:17.33. Sophomore Colleen Rutecki (Springfield, Pa./Springfield), graduate Sonya Sullivan (Manchester, N.J./Manchester) and sophomore Lindsey Walsh (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) went five (1:19.01), seven (1:19.65), and nine (1:19.94) the 500 as well, as the Hawks had four sprinters produce sub 1:20 times. In the 3000 meter run, junior Ben Hutterer (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) crossing the tape in 8:29.36 to finish third overall, just missing the IC4A qualifying time. Leading the distance crew, senior Laura Embrey (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) ended the 1000 meter run event in 2:59.93 to finish fourth overall.
Other top finishes for the Hawks include: sophomore Garth DeBlasio (Millstone, N.J./Allentown) finishing ninth in the mile with a personal best indoor time of 4:24.25, senior Cailin Lynam (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) and junior Christine Altland (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) finishing the 800 meter run in third (2:17.39) and eighth (2:19.88), and Sullivan and junior Stevenson Cajuste (Egg Harbor, N.J./Egg Harbor) finishing second and sixth in the 60 meter hurdles in 8.92 and 8.47, respectively.
The jumps crew produced solid efforts including a record breaking performance from senior Brittany Gibbs (Matawan, N.J./Old Bridge). Gibbs topped last week's record by leaping 39' 3" in the triple jump this week to break her already owned school record by over two inches. Fellow classmate Mary Kate Walsh (Woodbury, N.J./Woodbury) set a PR in the same event jumping over 38' 1.25". Walsh and unrelated teammate Lindsey Walsh (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) finished sixth and eighth, respectively, in the long jump. In men's pole vault, junior Peter Matano (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) cleared the 14' 3" standard, making the finals.
Producing another week of solid performances were the women's throwing crew with four athletes finishing in the top-ten in the shot put and five finishing in the top-ten in weight throw. Sophomores Symmone Fisher (Coram, N.Y./Longwod) and Jessica Toritto (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown) went three-four in the shot put with throws of 12.10 m and 11.60 m. Fisher then finished her evening with a winning effort in the weight throw with a toss of 16.33 m, good enough to qualify for the ECAC Championships. Senior Samantha Hegmann (Mineola, N.Y./Mineola) finished second in the event with a mark of 15.03 m.
On the men's side, senior Shawn Sabo (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) led the Hawks in the weight throw finishing third overall with a toss of 16.87 m. In shot put, juniors Vincent Elardo (Forked River, N.J./Lacey) and Tom Ciccoli (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) finished first and second overall with throws of 17.10 m and 16.55 m. Sabo finished sixth with a throw of 15.79 m.
Finishing off the evening, L. Walsh tied the MU school record in high jump, clearing the 5'7" bar, and also qualifying for the ECAC Championships.
With the NEC Indoor Championships just around the corner, the women's team will be looking to defend their 2009 title while the men's team will be looking to improve on their second place finish from last season.
Monmouth will return to action this weekend when it travels to Landover, Md. for the NEC Championships. The two day action will start on Saturday and finish on Sunday with both days start time set for 9:30 a.m.
