Monmouth University Athletics

Monmouth Athletes Produce 13 Top-10 Performances at Penn Opener

December 08, 2024

Philadelphia, PA - It was a record-breaking season opener for Monmouth University's track & field teams on multiple fronts.

Contesting the Penn Opener, two seniors set individual program records as the personal bests piled up.

On the men's side, there were six all-time Top 10 program marks recorded headlined by David Strong's record-breaking effort in the Heptathlon. For the women, Yasmeen Tinsley set the new standards in the 60-meter hurdles and 300-meter dash while topping a list of seven all-time Top 10 Monmouth performances.

"To be able to start the season off with three school records and thirteen Top 10 performances is incredible," said acting track & field head coach Jordan Torney. "We must build off this momentum heading into our second meet next Friday in New York."

Strong set personal bests in six of seven events while stacking up 5,235 points to finish as the runner-up in Philadelphia. He clocked in under 7.0 seconds in the 60-meter dash and long jumped 23.5 feet.

Tinsley smoked the field in the hurdles final, clocking in at 8.39 for a 0.16-second victory. She took second overall in the 300-meter race, crossing the line in 38.24 only 0.03-second behind the winner.

In the men's 60-meter hurdles, AJ Brooks ran 8.12 for third place in program annals. In the 300-meter dashed Aiden Baldelli climbed to third overall (34.70) while Jordan Ricketts moved up to eighth (35.02).

In men's distance competition, Ian Moore posted Monmouth's sixth-fastest 1,000-meter (2:23.98) and Declan McDonnell registered the sixth-fastest mile (4:06.33).

On the women's side, Kat Gilbert ran the 60-meter dash in 7.69 to claim the No. 5 overall spot on the Hawks' all-time performance list. Following Tinsley's lead in the 300-meter sprint, Madison Latimer moved into third (40.48) in school history while Chloe Jones posted the eight-best time (41.56). Tinsley is the lone woman in Monmouth history to break the 40-second barrier at the 300-meter distance.

In the field, Katie Fisher cleared 3.65m in the pole vault to take over fifth place in the record book. Meanwhile, Pentathlete Flavia Daniels scored 3,109 points to tie for seventh place.

"I am very proud of how our team performed in the first meet. Heading into our season opener, I challenged our team to be the most competitive, have the most energy, and be the most disciplined team in the meet, and I truly believe this was the case," said Torney.

The Hawks will contest the Seahawk Invitational on December 13.

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