After a successful indoor track season, the College's track and field teams have been working on braving the elements for the outdoor season.
Their practice prepared them for their first test last weekend, when they opened their season at the Monmouth University Invitational.
For the past several years, the Lions have had an impressive showing at this non-team scored meet, and this year was no different. The women came home with top-three placement in seven events and the men in five.
"We had some good performances," head coach Eric Mobley said.
He said that there were no events that really stuck out, but that was partially due to some unfavorable conditions for a few events.
"It's early in the year and the weather is not really great," he said.
On the women's side, junior Brittny Boyd won the 200-meter dash in 25.83 seconds. She also helped the Lions finish second in the 4 x 100-meter relay with a time of 48.77. She was the lead runner and was joined by junior Tiffany Clark, sophomore Khristelle Manuyag and junior Erika Huggler.
Clark also finished second in the 200-meter dash in 25.90, while Huggler picked up second in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.26.
"The team had a great performance," sophomore Lindsay Force said.
Sophomore Elyse Mitchell was a second-place finisher in the pole vault with a mark of 9.6 meters. Sophomore Angela Tecco picked up second place in the 800-meter run in 2:16.17 and freshman Jessica Bonnelli was a third-place finisher in the 400-meter dash in 58.38.
Rounding out the Lions' top performers were freshman Jenizah Melendez, who took fifth in the javelin throw with a mark of 35.21 meters, and junior Danica Miller, who took sixth in the same event with her effort of 35.02 meters.
While the team's success did not carry over to the distance events, Force believes that it is only a matter of time. "There are a lot of distance runners that are on the road back to recovery who will be making a huge impact as the season goes on," Force said.
As for the men, freshman Marquis Mitchell picked up second place in the triple jump with a performance of 13.16 meters, while junior Jeff Schwerdtman picked up third in the shot put (15.01 meters) and fifth in the discus (46.47 meters).
Third place finishes came to junior Kevin Jones in the long jump, who had a performance of 6.47 meters, and senior Ed Marion, who reached 1.94 meters in the high jump.
Junior Dan McDonald finished fourth in the 800-meter run in 2:01.00, followed by senior Eric Gross in sixth in 2:02.32.
"The team is looking pretty strong this year," senior Brian Donovan said. "We are going to continue to work hard all season."
The College's outdoor track teams will get their next workout at the Terrapin Invitational in College Park, Md. on Saturday.
Mobley stressed that the team is continuing to work on the transition from indoor to outdoor meets.
"That's what we've really been working on," he said. "We need to make a smooth transition."
