WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The Monmouth University men's and women's track and field teams split their squads up this weekend to compete in both the 45th Annual Colonial Relays, hosted by William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Va. and the Princeton hosted Sam Howell Invitational in Princeton, N.J this past Friday and Saturday. The Hawks men's team finished sixth overall with 56 total points while the women's team placed eighth with 42.5 team points.
"We absolutely missed some opportunities to do more in some areas," said Head Coach Joe Compagni. "But we did do a very good job overall of putting up some strong results against many of the best programs in the east."
The Blue and White competed against 77 other teams and over 1,500 athletes at the Colonial Relays, making it one of the most competitive meets in recent years for MU. Both squads led all NEC opponents at the meet that included rival Long Island.
Opening up scoring for the Hawks in the first event at the Colonial Relays, junior Vincent Elardo (Forked River, N.J./Lacey) and senior Larry Lundy (Friendsville, Pa./Montrose Area) finished fourth and sixth in the hammer throw with tosses of 178' and 174' 10". On the women's side in her signature event, sophomore Symmone Fisher (Coram, N.Y./Longwood) finished with a medalist win, and punched her ticket to the ECAC Championships, in the hammer as she posted a winning throw of 176' 4". Senior Kelly Dantley (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) posted a solid toss of 162' 9" to finished fourth overall in the same event.
In javelin, the men's crew put three and the women's team saw two of their own into the top-ten overall. Finishing in third (215' 2") and fourth (209' 7") overall and earning a trip to the IC4A's were seniors Marion Easley (Somerville, N.J./Somerville) and Eric Paul (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East). Fellow classmate Victor Rizzotto (Manahawkin, N.J./Southern Regional) ended the afternoon with a mark of 191' 7" to finish in eighth place. Leading the women's team, junior Mary Wilks (Bridgeton, N.J./Bridgeton) and newcomer Allyson Cardullo (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) finished back-to-back with fourth place (135' 4") and fifth place finishes (133' 8").
Elardo and Lundy then finished on top in men's shot put as the third year Hawk took the gold with a toss of 54' 7" and the senior standout took the silver (52' 4.5"). Elardo then ended out the weekend with a fourth place finish in men's discus with a final toss of 45.43 meters.
Leading the men's hurdle crew, sophomore Chris Rutherford (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) finished second overall in the men's 400 meter hurdles with a season-low time of 52.14. In men's triple jump, senior Chris Taiwo (Budd Lake, N.J./Mt. Olive) picked up a ninth place finish with a 45' 8.5" jump to finish with the fifth best leap in MU history. Freshman Alison Day (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) cleared the 5' 5" standard in women's high jump to earn a seventh place tie finish.
Posting the best relay finish of the weekend for the MU men was the 4x100 meter team of Zachory Krupka (Allentown, Pa./Allentown), sophomore Geoff Navarro (Mays Landing, N.J./Absegami) junior Jason Kelsey (Ramsey, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) and Taiwo who finished fourth overall in 41.69.
The women's 4x100 meter shuttle hurdle team of Wilks, freshman Rachel Watkins (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills), junior Lindsey Walsh (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) and graduate Sonya Sullivan (Manchester, N.J./Manchester Township) broke the school record with their finishing time of 1:00.98 in their second place finish. Finishing fifth overall in the women's 4x200 meter relay, the squad of sophomore Esteem Winder (Philadelphia, Pa./Carver), senior Brittany Gibbs (Matawan, N.J./Old Bridge), freshman Ashley Cuvilly (Uniondale, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) and reigning NEC Women's Rookie of the Week Lachelle Wallace (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) posted a time of 1:43.02.
Junior Ben Hutterer (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) posted his first sub-15 minute finish of the season in the 5000 meter run as he finished 18th overall in 14:50.08.
Senior Monica Kloc (Matawan, N.J./Matawan) led the women's team at the Sam Howell Invitational as she finished sixth overall in the discus with a toss of 114' 9".
The men's team was sitting in fifth place after day one of action with 46 points while the women's team sat in eighth posting 24 points.
The Blue and White will return to the track this upcoming weekend when MU travels to three separate meets. A handful of Hawks will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee for the Tennessee Sea Ray Relays while other members will stay in the Garden State - Ewing, N.J. - for the New Jersey Invitational. Other members will be traveling to Lewisburg, Pa. for the Bison Outdoor Classic. All meets are slated for TBA and will be taking place on Friday and Saturday, April 9th-10th.
Women - Team Rankings - 25 Events Scored
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1) Maryland 98 2) William and Mary 81
3) Villanova 79 4) Virginia 70
5) Georgetown 62 6) Delaware 59
7) Seton Hall 54 8) Monmouth 42.50
9) Bucknell 42 10) Temple 41
11) Norfolk State 40 12) VCU 37.50
13) Richmond 34 14) James Madison 33
15) Long Island 29 16) Howard 23
17) George Mason 21 18) St. Joseph's (Pa.) 19
19) St. Francis (Pa.) 16 20) Iona 15
21) Mount St. Mary's 13 21) Indiana (Pa.) 13
23) Virginia Tech 12 24) Hampton 5
25) UMBC 4 25) Fordham 4
27) Christopher Newport 2 27) Mansfield 2
29) Rider 1 29) Ursuline (Ohio) 1
Men - Team Rankings - 25 Events Scored
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1) Rutgers 128 2) William and Mary 97
3) Georgetown 92 4) Temple 75
5) Virginia 60 6) Monmouth 56
7) George Mason 48 8) Virginia Tech 45
9) Bucknell 42.50 10) Norfolk State 40.50
11) VCU 40 12) Rider 28
13) Villanova 27 14) Seton Hall 21
14) Delaware 21 16) Maryland 19
17) UMBC 17 18) Iona 16
19) Fordham 11 19) Indiana (Pa.) 11
21) Pierce Sports Training 10 22) Mansfield 9
23) St. Francis (Pa.) 8 23) Long Island 8
25) Fairleigh Dickinson 7 26) Howard 6
27) California (Pa.) 3 27) St. Joseph's (Pa.) 3
27) Christopher Newport 3 30) Mount St. Mary's 2
