PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Monmouth University men's and women's track and field teams sent various athletes to compete at both the Rutgers Invitationals and the Ichan Meet held in Piscataway, N.J. and Randalls Island, N.Y this past weekend. Despite the weather conditions that included 25-30 mph winds that cancelled events like pole vault, the Hawks saw a school record fall and several throwers post throws qualifying for NCAA Championships.
At Rutgers, senior Mary Kate Walsh (Woodbury, N.J./Woodbury) saved her best for last as she posted a leap of 39' 11.5", her career-best and a new Monmouth school record as she finished second in the event. Fellow classmate Brittany Gibbs (Matawan, N.J./Old Bridge) finished third overall (39' 3") with the fourth-best leap in school history.
Senior Larry Lundy (Friendsville, Pa./Montrose Area) posted a toss of 192' 7" in the hammer throw to move him into the top-48 in the East and also qualified him for the first round of the NCAA Championships, which will be held at the end of May in North Carolina. Lundy, and several of his teammates in at least six other events, have qualified for the NCAA's under this year's new format.
The men's throwers went four-six-seven-eight in the discus while the women's team finished in four-five-seven-eight in the women's hammer. Senior Monica Kloc (Matawan, N.J./Matawan) finished the day with two personal bests in discus (seventh) and shot put (sixth). In men's shot put, junior Vincent Elardo (Forked River, N.J./Lacey) finished second overall with a throw of 57' 9" earning him a top-25 ranking in the East.
At the Icahn Stadium, a small group of jumps and distance runners competed despite the winds. Junior Garth DeBlasio (Millstone, N.J./Allentown) won his section in the 1500 with a time of 4:04 while freshman Ford Palmer (Smithville, N.J./Absegami) finished seventh overall in the 800. Senior jumper Chris Taiwo (Budd Lake, N.J./Mt. Olive) was among the top finishers in the triple jump. Highlighting the meet for the Hawks was senior Andrew Seaver (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson) whose career-best of 15:54 in the 5K led a group of nine runners who ran between 14:50 and 16:00.
MU will return to the track this weekend as several members on both teams will be competing at the ECAC/IC4A Championships in Princeton, N.J. Times for the meet are TBD.
