LANDOVER, Md. - For the second year in a row, the Monmouth University men's track & field team finished just shy of an NEC indoor title, placing second overall at the 2010 NEC Indoor Track & Field Championships Sunday evening at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex in Landover, Md. Junior Vincent Elardo (Forked River, N.J./Lacey) led the Hawks throughout the weekend as he became MU's first NEC Indoor Champion in two events - shot put and weight throw - since Jason Fennes in 1995 and also won the coveted Most Outstanding Field Athlete of the Meet award for the first time in men's indoor program history.
"We had a great number of outstanding performances but we didn't execute very well in some areas," said MU Head Coach Joe Compagni. "Our hats off to Long Island for having tremendous performances all weekend long."
MU fell just short of winning its fourth title in six years after finishing the event with 128 team points, 19 points shy of newly crowned NEC Champions, Long Island (147). Sacred Heart finished third overall with 82 points while Central Connecticut State scored 67 for a fourth place finish and surprise St. Francis (N.Y.) placed fifth with 52 team points.
Solidifying himself amongst the Monmouth throwing greats - a group that includes four former All-Americans - Elardo unleashed a toss of 57' 1.5" in the shot put to pick up his second medalist win on the weekend and earn All-NEC First-Team honors. A barrage of teammates completed the monopoly of the top-four spots in shot put as junior Tom Ciccoli (King of Prussia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) took second place - and earned All-NEC Second-Team honors - with a throw of 56' 2" while seniors Shawn Sabo (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) and Victor Rizzotto (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional) finished third (52' 7.5") and fourth (50' 11.5"), respectively.
Sophomore Peter Matano (Long Branch, N.J./Long Branch) led a trio of Hawks that finished in the top-ten in pole vault. Matano finished sixth overall after clearing the 14' 3.25" standard while fellow vaulters Brandon Cabral (Farmingdale, N.J./Colts Neck) and Jason Timmons (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) finished eighth and ninth with both clearing 13' 9.25" each. In triple jump action, freshman Josh Mann (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) finished fifth with a leap of 44' 11.75" to earn four points for the Blue and White.
Sunday's track action opened up with the men's mile, as the Hawks saw two of their own place in the top-ten. Freshman David Berger (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) finished seventh overall, with a time of 4:24.61, in his first trip to the NEC Championships. Fellow distance runner Garth DeBlasio (Millstone, N.J./Allentown) rounded out the first with a 10th place finish, crossing the line at 4:28.91.
Fighting amongst a handful of Sacred Heart hurdlers, sophomore Chris Rutherford (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) finished fifth overall in the 60 meter hurdles in 8.43 seconds, giving the Hawks four crucial team points. Sophomore Kevin Merrigan (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) and junior Jason Kelsey (Ramsey, N.J./Don Bosco) finished fifth and sixth for MU in the 400 meter dash with the times of 50.57 and 50.76.
Finishing in the upper echelon of the NEC all season long, freshman Ford Palmer (Smithville, N.J./Absegami) finished the indoor season that way as he placed fifth in the 800 meter run, crossing the line in 1:55.94. Leading the sprints crew, senior Chris Taiwo (Budd Lake, N.J./Mt. Olive) finished fourth in the 60 meter dash (7.04) and also placed fifth in the 200 (22.45) while sophomore Geoff Navarro (Mays Landing, N.J./Absegami) finished the 200 in seventh overall in 22.73.
Fresh off of his second place finish yesterday in the 3000 meter run, junior Ben Hutterer (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) came back on day two looking to become NEC Champion in the 5000 meters. In one of the closest races of the day, Hutterer competed in a photo finish with two other NEC foes and finished third in 15:10.55, just four tenths of a second behind the champion and two thousandths behind the second place competitor.
In the last event of the meet, the Hawks 4x400 relay squad of Kelsey, Eric Fay (Yatesville, Pa./Pittston Area), Merrigan, and Rutherford posted a second place finish in 3:22.94 to earn all four members All-NEC Second-Team honors.
The Blue and White return to the track on Friday, February 26th, when they travel to New York, N.Y. for the NYU Fastrack Invitational. The event, held at the world famous Armory in the Bronx, is set to start at 1:00 p.m.
Men's All-NEC Honors
First Team
Vincent Elardo Weight Throw
Vincent Elardo Shot Put
Second Team
Julio Rodriguez High Jump
Ben Hutterer 3000 Meter Run
Tom Ciccoli Shot Put
Jason Kelsey 4x400 Relay
Eric Fay 4x400 Relay
Kevin Merrigan 4x400 Relay
Chris Rutherford 4x400 Relay
