NEW YORK, NY-Â For the third consecutive year Monmouth University's men's track and field team were crowned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions at the 2020 Conference Indoor Meet.
The Hawks totaled 10 event champions, including five in the second day of competition. Monmouth's men's team won with a total of 220 points. They have won three consecutive indoor titles and six of the last seven. The women finished third with 124.5 points behind Rider (154.5) and Quinnipiac (154).
Senior Kyle Mueller, who set a new event record in the 5000, was named as the Men's Co-Most Outstanding Performer of the meet. Monmouth Head Coach Mike Nelson, who is in his first season at the helm of the Hawks, was named Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year.
The pole vault belonged to the Hawks with Monmouth winning both genders as Randy Showmaker (15' 9.25") and Lauren Saifi (12' 3.50") taking home gold. The same was true for the triple jump as Mariah Hubbard's jump of 39' 1.25" was first and Mohamed Diagourga claimed gold for the men with his jump of 48' 4.75". Montel Johnson got day 2 off to a solid start by winning the weight throw with a toss of 61" 8.50".
The Hawks went 1-2 in the 800m with freshman Ian Moore crossing the tape in 1:54.96 for the win and sophomore Louis DiLaurenzio claiming second right behind Moore (1:54.99). Jalen Jones' 400m time of 48.38 took first while the 4x400 relay team picked up gold medals.
NOTES & QUOTES
"I'm so proud of the way both groups competed today at the MAAC championships!  For both the men's and women's teams this was our best meet of the season.  We asked a lot of the student athletes this weekend and they delivered.  The men's team had a dominating performance scoring in every event area to rack up 220 points.  We had numerous event champions and tons of PRs and season bests.  I'd also like to thank the coaching staff for all their hard work.  They got their athletes ready to perform when it mattered. Now it's time to prepare for the IC4A/ECAC Championships and then it's on to outdoors!" Monmouth Head Coach Mike Nelson
·       Monmouth had five event champions on the first day including Kyle Mueller who set a new conference and school record with his time of 14:07.39 in the 5000
·       Hubbard won the indoor triple jump title for the third consecutive season
·       The Hawks had 28 men and 24 women named to the MAAC Academic Honor Roll
·       Monmouth is 3-0 to start the season for the fourth time in school history and for the second consecutive season
·       The men dominated the shot put, going 2-3-4-5 led by Andrew Tummino's second place finish (16.90) and Brandon Davis' third place throw of 16.15.
·       The next closest team to the men's squad was Rider, 69 points behind the Hawks
·       After day one, Monmouth's men's team led with 91 points while the women trailed Rider (12 points) and Quinnipiac (10 points)
·       2020 marked the first time since joining the MAAC in 2013-14 that the women did not win the indoor championship
OTHER TOP-3 FINISHERS
·       60m Hurdles – Mohamed Diagourga 2nd (8.09); T Van Cawenberge 3rd (8.22)
·       60m – Ibrahim Massey 2nd (6.92)
·       60m – Iyanna Jenkins 2nd (7.80)
·       Men's 4x800 – 2nd (7:46.11)
·       Women's 4x800 – 3rd (9:15.42)
·       Women's 4x400 – 3rd (3:58.11)
·       Pole Vault – Taylor Clark 2nd (3.05m)
UP NEXT
The Hawks will compete at the Fastrack Last Chance and the Boston University Last Chance meets as they gear up for the ECAC/IC4A Championships on March 7 and 8.
