WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University men's and women's track and field team defeated Rider, 251-193 and 272-151, respectively, in the Second Annual Dual Meet against Rider at The MAC, Thursday night.   Both squads were lead by their high jump performers as Tommy Butler (Union Bridge, Md./Francis Scott Key)'s new high jump school record for the men's team, while the women were paced by Rachel Watkins' (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) ECAC qualifying mark.

"In some areas we did not execute very well." said head coach Joe Compagni.  "But we did have a good number of very strong performances from both the men and the women."

Reigning Northeast Conference Field and Rookie Athlete of the Week, Butler  set the Monmouth school record clearing 6'10.75" in the high jump, good for first place in the event.  Sophomore Rich Bills (Matawan, N.J./St. Joseph) finished second with a height of 6' 4".

Senior Vincent Elardo (Forked River, N.J./Lacey) continued his impressive start to the indoor season, finishing first in the shot put with a toss of 57' 7.5".  Sophomore Shane Carle (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) threw 53' 9.75", good for second place, while freshman Daniel D'Amato (Matawan, N.J./Old Bridge)  finished fourth overall.

Elardo also took first in the weight throw, recording a toss of 55' 11.75" while senior Tom Ciccoli (King of Prussia, Pa/Archbishop Carroll) tossed 48' 2.5", good for third place.

Pete Matano took first in the pole vault as the junior registered a new school record, and IC4A qualifying mark, with a clearance of 15' 9" while classmates Brandon Cabral (Farmingdale, N.J./Colts Neck) and Jason Timmons (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) vaulted 14' to share second place.

Senior Jason Kelsey (Ramsey, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) hurled himself 23' 4" for first place in the long jump followed by junior Joshua Lewis (Montville, N.J./Montville Township) who took second with a mark of 22' 6.5".  Stevenson Cajuste (Egg Harbor, N.J./Egg Harbor) finished third for the Blue and White, fourth overall, leaping 22' 2.25".

Kelsey also placed first in the 200 meter dash, posting a time of 22.82.

Junior Geoff Navarro (Mays Landing, N.J./Absegami) took first in the 60 meter dash registering a 7.06 finish, .07 seconds ahead of senior Zachary Krupka  (Allentown, Pa./Allentown) who took second.  Brandon Cabral (Farmingdale, N.J./Colts Neck) finished in third with a time of 7.27.

Krupka crossed the finish line first in the 400 meter dash, finishing in 50.20.

Nick Waltman (Colonia, N.J./JFK Memorial) jumped into third place overall in the triple jump with 43' 9.75" mark.

Jalen Walker (Burlington, N.J./BCIT/Burlington Township) finished first for the Hawks, fourth overall, in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.51.

Rookies Bayaan Oluyadi (Union, N.J./Union) and Jon Marques (Linden, N.J./St. Joseph) crossed the finish line one-two in the 500 meter dash with times of 1:06.83 and 1:07.0. 

Senior Ben Hutterer (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) and junior Garth DeBlasio (Millstone, N.J./Allentown) finished the mile run one second apart with times of 4:22:13 and 4:23.13, good for second and third place , respectively, followed by Mike Bertocchi (Morris Plains, N.J./Parsippany Hills) who finished in 4:32.26 in fourth place.

Freshman Seth Robbins (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) finished first for MU, second overall, in the 3000 meter run with a time of 8:55.35.

Sophomore Pat Egan (Whitman, Mass./Whitman-Hanson Regionals) finished first for the Hawks, second overall in the 800 meter run, crossing the finish line in 1:59.09.

Navarro, Krupka, Oluyadi and Kelsey finished second in the 4x400 meter relay, finishing with 3:24.22, .02 second away from the win.

The distance medley team of Hutterer, Egan, Pat Ryan (Leonia, N.J./Leonia), and DeBlasio finished first, crossing the finish line in 10:39.04.

For the women's squad, Watkins cleared 5' 7" to claim the top stop for the sophomore in the high jump, which also qualifies her for the ECAC Championships in March.  Alison Day (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) and Walsh finished second and third with jumps of 5' 4.25" each.

Junior Lindsey Walsh (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) finished first in the long jump, clearing 17' 0.75" while classmate Colleen Rutecki (Springfield, Pa./Springfield)  claimed second place with a jump of 16' 3.75".  Senior Mary Wilks (Bridgeton, N.J./Bridgeton) finished fourth, jumping 15' 2.75" in her first meet of the season.

Walsh also took first place in the 60 meter hurdles, posting a time of 9.42.

Rutecki took the top spot in the 500 meter dash, finishing in 1:20.82 followed by sophomore Danielle Toritto (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East) who finished in 1:20.90.

Junior Symmone Fisher (Coram, N.Y./Longwood) threw herself into first place in the weight throw with a 54' 1.75" mark followed by freshman Qiyana Hill (Middle Island, N.Y./Longwood) who registered a toss of 54' 1.75".  Newcomer Tilah Young (Barnegat, N.J./Barnegat) finished third overall with a 44' 11" throw.

Newcomer Rachel Aliotta (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) recorded a first place finish in the shot put, tossing a distance of 43' 8" followed by sophomore Sandra Jean-Romain (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) who threw a mark of 41' 8".  Fischer finished third registering a throw of 39' 10.75".

Freshman Laura Williams (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick Township) took first place in the 400 meter dash with a time of 59.80 followed by Watkins who finished second for the Hawks, third overall, in 1:00.12.

Lachelle Wallace (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) crossed the finish line first in the 60 meter dash as the sophomore posted a time of 7.95.  Freshman standout Mercedes Yanora (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Holy Redeemer Wilkes-Barre) finished third overall for the Hawks with a time of 8.08 while Esteem Winder (Philadelphia, Pa./Carver) and Ashley Cuvilly (Uniondale, N.Y. (Kellenberg Memorial) shared fourth place, finishing in 8.24.

Wallace and Yanora finished atop of the 200 meter dash finishing in 26.33 and 26.45, respectively.

Culvilly also placed first for the Blue and White, third overall, in the triple jump with a mark of 33' 6.75".

Graduate student Christina Nelson (Little Silver, N.J./Red Bank [Maryland]) crossed the finish line in 5:11.37 in the mile run to claim first.  Erin Szulewski (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) registered a time of 5:27.02, good for a fifth place finish.

Sophomore Amanda Eller (Delmont, N.J./Millville)  finished first overall in the 800 meter run in 2:20.25 followed by classmate Emily MacEwen (South Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury)  who crossed the finish line .31 seconds later in 2:20.56, good for second in the event.

The distance medley team of Eller, Walsh, MacEwen and Nelson took first with a time of 12:23.66.

Senior distance runner Christine Altland (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) ran a time of 10:34.72, good for second place overall, in the 3000 meter run.  Freshman Lucia Montefusco (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) placed fourth with a time of 10:42.58.

Watkins led the women's 4x400 meter relay team, along with Rutecki, Williams and junior Ajda Dotday (Hawthorne, N.J. /Hawthorne) to a first place finish in 4:05.61.

Monmouth returns to action next Friday, January 21st, at the Great Dane Invitational hosted by the University of Albany at the New York Armory, starting at 12:30 p.m.