LANDOVER, Md.-  While taking very different paths to the title, both Monmouth Men's and Women's Track & Field Teams captured championships this weekend at the 2012 Northeast Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships.

The men set a new school record for points scored with 170, which was the second most scored in meet history while the women's title came down to the wire.  The women headed into the final race of the day (4x400 relay) ahead by three points over LIU-Brooklyn, needing a first or second place finish to clinch the title regardless of where the Blackbirds finished.

The Hawks were put into the driver's seat after the women's DMR team took second with just the 4x400 remaining.  MU's relay team of Rachel Watkins (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills), Colleen Rutecki (Springfield, Pa./Springfield), Kate Frye (Point Pleasant, N.J./Pt. Boro) and Laura Williams (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick Twp.) were three-tenths of a second behind LIU-Brooklyn's squad but the second place points were enough to seal the win for the Hawks.

“It may sound like a cliché, but the wins were absolutely total  team efforts for both the men and the women,” said MU Head Coach Joe Compagni.  “Every event group did their part and our depth was really the key.”

Both Monmouth teams scored in 16 out of 17 events to clinch championships.  The women, who have placed either first or second for 10 straight years, capture their fifth indoor title.  The men's team captured its fourth team title, cruising past second-place Sacred Heart by 54 points.

The men's team won four events, led by thrower Vincent Elardo's (Forked River, N.J./Lacey) pair of victories.  Elardo picked up where he left off on day one after winning the weight throw, with a shot put toss of 58' 05” to collect his second gold medal of the meet.  For his efforts, Elardo would be named Field Athlete of the Meet.

The MU pole vaulters went 1-2-4, with senior Pete Matano (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) clearing 15' 9” for first.  Freshman Ben Boyd (Point Murray, N.J./West Morris Catholic) finished the 400m in 50.09 to claim his first NEC individual title in his first championship meet. 

The women won two individual titles led by junior Rachel Watkins (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) record tying high jump performance.  Watkins tied the NEC record set in 2009 with her jump of 5' 9 ¼ to claim first place for the Hawks.  Junior Amanda Eller's (Delmont, N.J./Millville) time of 2:15.18 800m gave the Hawks their second gold medal performance of the meet.

Eller also teamed up with Danielle Torrito (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown East), Lindsey Walsh (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape) and Emily MacEwen (South Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) on the DMR to take second place and regain the lead for the Hawks. Earlier in the day Eller had secured a third place finish in the mile, crossing the line in 5:01.44. MacEwen finished just behind Eller in the 800m with a time 2:16.84, which was good enough for second.

The Hawks went 2-4-5 in the 400m, with Williams taking second (56.41), Watkins taking fourth (58.94) and Frye (59.11) claiming fifth place.  Senior Jennifer Nelson (Barnegat, N.J./Barnegat) was second in the 3,000 with an ECAC qualifying mark of 9:52.75.

Freshman Lauren McDonald (Roseland, N.J./West Essex Regional) cleared 10' 8” for take second place in the pole vault for MU. Walsh's long jump of 18' 3 ¾ finished in third place for the senior while Sandra Jean-Romain (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) and Rachel Aliotta (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) went 3-4 in the women's shot put with distances of 44' 6 ¾” and 44' 5 ¼”.

Ford Palmer's (Smithville, N.J./Absegami) second place time of 4:14.06 in the mile was a IC4A qualifying time while the junior also registered an IC4A qualifying time of 1:53.12 in the 800m, which was third in the meet.  Palmer anchored the men's second-place DMR which also featured seniors Garth DelBlasio (Millstone, N.J./Allentown) and Chris Rutherford (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) along with junior Mark Bernardo (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell).

Elardo wasn't the only Hawk to impress in the shot put as Monmouth would take four of eight scoring positions in the event. Junior Shane Carle (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) took second with his toss of 53' 6 ½”, sophomore Errol Jeffrey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Transit Tech/Bronx CC) was fifth (51' 9 ¼”) and sophomore Daniel Amato was eighth (49' 2 ¼”).

The Hawks took three scoring spots in the high jump, led by junior Jake Bartlett (Middletown, N.J./CBA), who took second after clearing 6' 8 ¼”.  Sophomore Ed Kramer (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) and freshman Erik Anderson (Wading River, N.Y./Shorham Wading River) were third and fifth with heights of 6' 7” and 6' 5”.  Freshman Tom Jeffers' (Belmawr, N.J./Triton Regional) vault of 14' 11” was second behind teammate Matano, while sophomore Jordan Subai (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) took fourth after clearing 14' 7 ¼”. Senior Josh Lewis (Montville, N.J./Montville) took third in the long jump with his mark of 22' 10”.

On the women's side, Lachelle Wallace's (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) time of 7.88 was seventh in the 60m, while Williams was sixth in the 200m with a time of 25.29. Watkins and Walsh were fifth and eighth in the 60m hurdles, respectively. Rutecki  and Ali Hehn took fourth and fifth in the 500m, with times of 1:17.29 and 1:18.42 respectively.

Navarro and fellow senior Mike Drake (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East/College of Charleston) claimed third and sixth in the 60m dash, crossing the tape in 6.95 and 7.11.  Navarro, Drake and Boyd also went 5-6-7 in the 200m dash. Jon Marques (Linden, N.J./St. Joseph) was third in the 500m (1:06.06), Bayaan Oluyadi (Union, N.J./Union) was fifth and Joe DiBianca (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest) was seventh.

Boyd, Marques, Oluyadi and DiBianca combined to take fourth in the 4x400 with 3:23.51.

Junior Sean Hartnett (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) claimed fifth in the 3000 with a time of 8:30.47as Khari Bowen (Monroe, N.J./Monroe Township) was also fifth in the 5000 with his time of 15:00.74. Rutherford and Stevenson Cajuste (Egg Harbor, N.J./Egg Harbor) added to the MU point totals with a fourth and seventh place finish in the 60m hurdles.

Both Monmouth teams will compete at home next Saturday, February 18 as the Hawks host the Blue-White Invitational at 10 a.m.




Men's Results
1) Monmouth                       170       
2) Sacred Heart                      116
3) Central Connecticut            108       
3) Long Island                       108  
5) Mount St. Mary's               48       
6) St. Francis (Pa.)                  31  
7) St. Francis (N.Y.)                 29       
8) Robert Morris                  28  
9) Wagner                             13      
10) Fairleigh Dickinson           6  
10) Bryant                           6

Women's Results
1) Monmouth                       143       
2) Long Island                   142  
3) Sacred Heart                   109.50    
4) St. Francis (Pa.)              73  
5) Wagner                          37       
6) Central Connecticut            36.50
7) Quinnipiac                      33       
8) Robert Morris                  31  
9) Fairleigh Dickinson             24      
10) Mount St. Mary's               19  
11) Bryant                          10      
12) St. Francis (N.Y.)              5