The College’s track teams overcame poor conditions and a 90-minute rain delay en route to an impressive showing on home ground at the Lions Invitational on Saturday, April 26.
The women’s team continued to excel in the mid-range runs, with junior Katelyn Ary coming out on top in the 400-hurdle race with a season-best time of 1:02.95.
Sophomore Kristen Randolph followed suit in the 400-hurdle by coming in third place out of the 24 participants, while junior Michelle Cascio added another bronze at the Invitational in the 400-meter race with a time of 58.46 — the best finish of any DIII athletes.
Junior Megan Stack added another best-in-DIII time in her event, placing fourth in a field of 60 runners for the 800-meter run with a time of 2:20.82.
The Lions’ long-distance races were highlighted by the performance of Tara Nealon in the 1,500 event, who came in eighth place out of 72 participants with a time of 4:47.00, and senior Brigit Roemer led the way for the College in field events.
Roemer bested several Division I athletes in the triple jump to place third, leaping a distance of 11.48 meters, and sophomore Courtney Paciulli earned seventh place with a 10.88 leap.
A couple of throwers also earned top finishes for the Lions, with the best results coming in the hammer throw. Junior Joan Hales came in sixth place in the hammer throw with a season-best distance of 43.09 meters, while Kristen Van Benschoten took 11th with a throw of 38.04 meters.
The Lions’ day was highlighted in the throwing events. In the javelin, freshman Matt Rafferty had a toss of 57.81 meters to place third out of 33 athletes. In the hammer throw, junior Abayomi Arowolo came in fourth overall with a mark of 47.93 meters, and in the shot put, William Castore had a throw of 12.56 meters to finish ninth out of 29 shot putters.
Sophomore Michael Larkin also ended up with a top-10 finish for the high jump, getting a jump of 1.80 meters, before getting sixth in the 400-hurdles race with a time of 55.85. Sophomore Jake Lindacher also stayed hot in the hurdling races by taking fourth place in the 110-hurdle, finishing with a time of 15.15 seconds.
The Lions’ performances in the running events was highlighted by sophomore Tyler Grimm in the 5,000-meter event, as he finished third among the 25 participants. Senior Dominic Tasco also put in a strong performance in distance running, finishing third in a field of 79 runners in the 1,500 meter with a time of 3:59.12.
Up next for the track teams is the 2014 NJAC Championships, which the College will host next Saturday, May 3, and Sunday, May 4.
