UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - For the third time in as many weeks, the Monmouth University men's and women's track & field teams split their squads to compete in both the Penn State hosted Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup and the Yale hosted Giegengack Invitational. Both two-day events kicked off Friday afternoon with action concluding on Saturday evening.
The men's distance medley team of Pat Egan (Whitman, Mass./Whitman-Hanson Regionals), Christopher McGee (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe Woodbury), Colton Langianese (Lewis Run, Pa./Bradford Area), and Peter Forgach (Long Branch, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) earned a sixth place finish to open up team scoring for the Hawks at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup. The Blue and White's distance crew finished the event in 10:28.07 to earn three points for MU. Sophomore Chris Rutherford (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) finished the 60 meter hurdles in 8.24 to earn a third place finish overall and during the trials posted a 8.17 time to break the MU indoor school record.
In the throws, junior Vincent Elardo (Forked River, N.J./Lacey) tied his season-best toss in the weight throw (57' 3.75") en route to a sixth place finish overall. Leading the Hawks in long jump, senior Jason Kelsey (Ramsey, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) finished his evening with a leap of 22' 3" to earn an eighth place finish. After one day of events (six overall), the Hawks men's team currently sits in 10th place overall with 12.5 team points.
At the Yale hosted Giegengack Invitational, the Hawks duo of freshman Melissa Reigles (Bainbridge, N.Y./Bainbridge-Guilford) and sophomore Monica Kloc (Matawan, N.J./Matawan) finished the weight throw in ninth and tenth, respectively, with throws of 40' and 39' 10.5".
Monmouth, contending in arguably one of its most competitive weekends this season, completed day one action at the highly competitive Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup that included nationally ranked teams like Penn State (14th-ranked men, eighth-ranked women) and Auburn (20th-ranked men, 17th-ranked women). Competitors at the Giegengack Invite, among a field of strong BIG EAST and Ivy League schools, included NEC rivals CCSU and Sacred Heart.
The Hawks teams will return to action tomorrow morning when the split squads compete on day two of both the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup and Geigengack Invite. Action in both events starts at 9:30 a.m.
