By George Tatoris
Staff Writer
The winter track team had a great showing last week at the Princeton Invitational on Sunday, Feb. 22, and at Ramapo’s Roadrunner Tune-Up at the New York Armory on Friday, Feb. 20, as they continue to push into Championship season.
The women’s team took second out of 23 teams in the Roadrunner Tune-Up while the men took fourth.
One of the big successes at the Princeton Invitational came from the 4x400 relay team, comprised of seniors Joy Spriggs, Katelyn Ary, Michelle Cascio and junior Kristen Randolph. Their combined time of 3:54.29 not only earned them a second place slot, but also pushed them up to the third best Division III time for that event this season.
“Our women’s 4x4 went into the meet prepared to move up on the Nationals list. We were all focused on the same goal and ran our fastest time this season,” Ary said.
At the same meet, Cascio ran two more impressive races— in the 200 meters she took fourth in 25.65 seconds and in the 60 meters she took ninth with 8.02 seconds, the fastest of any Division III runner in that event that day. Senior Megan Stack took third in the mile with a time of 5:06.81.
On the men’s side of things, junior Jake Lindacher took first in the 60-meter high hurdles with a time of 8.43 seconds, an ECAC qualifying cut.
The men’s relay also found success on the track in the 4x400 event, as sophomores Brandon Mazzarella and Zach Hubner, junior Laron Day and senior Erik Moutenot finished second with a combined time of 3:26.21.
The Princeton Invitational was the last meet before the Lions go on to defend their titles in the NJAC Championships on Thursday, Feb. 26.
“Right now, our focus is on competing at a high level at NJACs and continuing our strong showings at this level,” Lindacher said.
The NJACs will be housed in the 168th Street Armory in New York, New York, the same facility that hosted Ramapo’s Roadrunner Tune-Up.
At that meet, senior Joan Hales won the weight throw with a toss of 14.61 meters. Despite the first place win, Hales says she wishes she could have done better.
Senior Megan Kocher also won her event, the 500 meters, with a time of 1:23.03.
Freshman Chloe Yelle finished second in the shot put with a heave of 11.20 meters, and sophomore Tracy Prentice also finished second in the pole vault with a height of 3.05 meters.
The men did well in the 3,000 meters, netting three of the top five spots in the race. Sophomore Andrew Tedeschi led the pack in second with a time of 8:51.53. Junior Tyler Grimm was third at 8:52.00 and senior Jeremy Garrell finished fourth in 8:57.56.
Freshman Dale Johnson took second in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:31.87.
At this point in the season, the track team will continue to hone their skills. For Hales, this means adding a third turn to her throwing technique. And for Lindacher it means to be more efficient and conserve momentum at the end of the race.
