Both of the College’s track & field teams excelled this weekend at the Thomson Invitational at the University of Delaware by grabbing top 10 finishes.
The men finished in sixth overall in a field of 22 teams, while the women received fourth place in a field of 24 teams.
For the men, the Lions were all over the place, scoring in the sprinting events. They had runners in four of the eight scoring places in both the 60-meter and the 200 meter sprints.
Senior Christopher Medina led the way in the 60-meters with a time of 7.06 seconds, while senior Robert Jiggetts, sophomore Scott Lisa and junior Kyle Magliaro were not far behind with times of 7.21, 7.27 and 7.27, respectively. Sophomore Michael Spekhardt came in third in the 200-meter at 23.09, while sophomore Kevin Mulcahey, Magliaro and Jiggetts were sixth, seventh and eighth with times of 23.38, 23.49 and 23.49 respectively.
“Going into the meet, we knew we were going to see good competition and had the ability to score with both Division II and Division III schools,” Jiggetts said. “It was awesome to see so much depth in scoring in the sprinting events.”
The College scored other top finishes as well. Lisa won the high jump at a height of 1.89 meters and freshman James O’Connor was third at 1.84 meters. Spekhardt was second in the 400-meter at 52.08. There were also a few third place finishes for the Lions. Freshman Erik Moutenot was third in the 500-meter race at 1:07.65. Junior Andy Gallagher got the bronze in the 3,000-meters with a time of 9:13.89 and junior Mark Sidebottom paced a third place in the 5,000 meter at 15:58.21.
These performances, as well as many others by the team, enabled the College to finish so highly against the competition.
“Sixth overall was definitely an accomplishment,” said Jiggetts. “I’d say we met our team’s goals and objective for sure. We went into the meet ready to represent the best that the College’s track and field has to offer.”
The women had some memorable performances, most notably in the 800-meters. Freshman Katelyn Ary won the event with a time of 1:21.84, while senior Katie Nestor came in second at 2.22.70. Sophomore Anginelle Alabanza was fourth with a time of 2:25.14.
The College also won another event withthe help of Kathy Goncalves, who ran to victory in the 5,000 meters at 8:12.84, an ECAC qualifying time.
Other top running finishes for the Lady Lions included freshman Michelle Cascio finishing third in the 400-meters with 1:02.64, freshman Kaite Johnston getting third in the 500-meters at 1:22.93, sophomore Megan Flynn scoring a second place finish in the 5,000 meters at 8:15.82 and sophomore Julie Jablonski grabbing second in the mile with a time of 5:19.33. Sophomore Erica Roberts was also second in the triple jump with a distance of 10.57 meters, while junior Mary Chismar received third in the shot put with a throw of 10.89 meters.
With strengths in varying areas, the Lions are proving that they have the success and depth to compete with just about anyone.
“Our main objective was to run fast, but scoring was definitely a nice bonus,” explained Jiggetts.
The College is back on the track on Saturday in the TCNJ/Rider Dual meet in Lawrenceville.
