Not even a week after the outstanding performances met at last week's New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championships, the College headed to the 168th Street Armory to compete in the NYU FasTrack Invitational where they racked up even more NCAA and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) marks.
Junior Stephanie Herrick had a shining race in the one-mile run. Placing fourth in 4:56.25, Herrick achieved a school record. Her run earned her an NCAA provisional mark, as she was the top NCAA Division III finisher in the event.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team also met NCAA provisional standards. Junior Kristen Tricocci, senior Jessica Bonelli, sophomore Jianna Spadaccini and freshman Meryl Wimberly combined to finish with a time of 3:57.55.
Tricocci also posted an NCAA provisional distance in the long jump. She was seventh overall and jumped 5.45 meters. Also, Bonelli met an ECAC qualifier in the 400-meter dash, posting a time of 59.86 seconds.
Junior Martine McGrath finished in second place in the 5,000-meter run with an ECAC-worthy time of 17:39.31. Additional ECAC standards were met in the 800-meter by Wimberly and Spadaccini. Wimberly was 10th in 2:19.11, while Spandaccini took 16th in 2:20.16.
Other ECAC qualifiers were posted by sophomore Michelle Wallace in the 3,000 meters (10:49.64) and junior Justine Carnevale in the 1,000 meters (3:08.96).
"It was a really exciting meet," said Wallace. "It was the last chance for a lot of us to make ECAC's and a good amount of people stepped up to the challenge and met the qualifying standards."
For the field team, sophomore Ashley Krauss had both a personal-best and ECAC distance in the weight throw with a distance of 13.48 meters (ninth place).
As for the men's team, it were still a little worn out from the NJAC competition.
The 4x400 relay team boasted an ECAC qualifying time as well as a season-best performance, but fell one second short of a national mark. They placed eighth overall and ran a 3:20.18. Junior Rob McGowan, sophomore DeShard Stevens, senior Steve Murray and freshman Kyle Gilroy ran in the event for the College.
Senior Galen Johnson was 28th in the one-mile race, crossing the line in 4:24.55. Senior Josh Krowicki ran a time of 1:58.46 in the 800 meters to finish 26th. Junior Pasquale DiGioacchino also ran in the event, placing 41st in 2:00.63. Senior Brian Donatelli placed seventh in the shot put with a throw of 14.91 meters.
Many decisions need to be made this week to determine who from the team will compete at the IC4A Championships and who will head to the ECAC Championships.
"In preparation the team just needs to rest," McGowan said. "It's been a rough week with three days of competition."
