PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Monmouth University men's and women's track teams competed at two separate meets on Saturday afternoon with half the team traveling to Bethlehem, Pa. for the Lehigh Games and a handful of team members concluding action at the world famous Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa.

At the final day of the world famous Penn Relays, senior Chris Taiwo (Budd Lake, N.J./Mt. Olive) was the first Hawk to come out of the gates on Saturday afternoon and notch a solid performance. The veteran, competing in the college men's triple jump eastern category, finished 15th overall with a leap of 44' 6.25". Leading the throwers in men's hammer toss, senior Larry Lundy (Friendsville, Pa./Montrose Area) posted a season-best throw of 185' 10" to finish sixth overall in a competitive field.

In one of the Hawks best team events, men's javelin, freshman Vincent DuVernois (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) took home a fifth place finish (202' 5") in the college category while senior teammate Marion Easley (Somerville, N.J./Somerville) finished seventh overall(201' 3") in the championship category. Back in the college category, senior Victor Rizzotto (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional) also finished the meet with an impressive showing as he finished eighth overall with a toss of 199' 11".

In the only event the women's team competed in on Saturday, the 4x800 meter relay, the Blue and White took home a 22nd place finish with a time of 9:29.72.

Freshman Pat Egan (Whitman, Mass./Whitman-Hanson Regionals) was the first Hawks to post a top-notch result at the Lehigh Games as his time of 1:55.65 in the men's 800 meter run gave him a seventh place finish overall. In the men's 1500 meter run, the sophomore duo of Todd Apgar (Somers, N.Y./Somers) and Ryan Mulligan (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) finished fifth (4:05.15) and sixth (4:05.81) with less than a second separating the pair. In the 110 hurdles, graduate Terrell Gissendanner (Rochester, N.Y./Edison Tech) took home the medalist win (14.61) while freshman Rich Bills (Matawan, N.J./St. Joseph) finished fourth overall crossing the tape in 16.29.

On the women's side, junior Christine Altland (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) posted a season-best in the 1500 meter run as she paced the field with a winning time of 4:44.75.

Leading the jumps crew, freshman Jake Bartlett (Middletown, N.J./CBA) finished high jump in a second place tie clearing the 1.93 m standard. Pole vaulter Pete Matano (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) finished his signature event clearing the 4.10 m height and ended the event sixth place overall.

In triple jump, freshmen Josh Mann (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) and Nick Waltman (Colonia, N.J./JFK Memorial) led the way for MU as Mann's leap of 13.18 meters gave him a second place finish and Waltman's mark of 11.67 meters placed him fifth in the event. Freshman Shane Carle (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) posted a second place finish in the men's shot put with a toss of 15.44 meters and a fourth place finish in discus (42.16 meters) while fellow classmate Ryan Snyder (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) finished discus with a sixth place finish throw of 39.80 meters.

Junior Ashley Cuvilly (Uniondale, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial)  and senior Jenn Tarsan (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex) led the women's squad in triple jump as the duo finished back-to-back in third and fourth place with jumps of 10.77 meters and 10.51 meters. The throwing crew also had solid finishes as junior Samantha Hegmann (Mineola, N.Y./Mineola) and sophomore Monica Kloc (Matawan, N.J./Matawan) finished in fourth (11.01 meters) and fifth (10.86 meters) in shot put. Kloc followed up with a fifth place finish in discus (36.25 meters) while freshman Melissa Reigles (Bainbridge, N.Y./Bainbridge-Guilford) finished sixth in the same event (35.88 meters). The Hawks took four of the top-ten spots in hammer throw with Hegmann again leading the way with a medalist winning toss of 46.59 meters.

In the javelin throw, junior Allyson Cardullo (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) took home the final medalist win of the day for MU as she posted a winning distance of 42.79 meters. Freshman Ann Moccia (Wood-Ridge, N.J./Wood-Ridge) also had a solid afternoon as she finished fourth in the event with a throw of 36.68 meters.

Monmouth, reigning men's and women's NEC Outdoor Champions, has concluded its regular season meets and will start the finals season this weekend starting with the conference championships.

The Hawks will return to the track this upcoming weekend, Saturday, May 1st - Sunday, May 2nd for the Northeast Conference Championship meet. After hosting the Championships last year, the Hawks will travel to Emmittsburg, Md. for the two day meet. Start time both days is set for 9:15 a.m.