By Malcolm Luck
Sports Editor
Against tough Division I opponent Rider University, the men’s and women’s track and field teams could not prevail on Friday, Feb. 2.
The competition was fierce, with the men’s and women’s teams leaving Lawrenceville, New Jersey with final tallies of 111-37 and 100-60, respectively.
Rider was responsible for first place finishes in 30 of the 32 total events. Each of the Lions’ two first place finishes came from the women’s side, where they took both first and second places in the mile run and 3000-meter events.
Junior Danielle DeVito claimed first place in the mile run with a time of 5:22.10.
DeVito, who owns the top 3000-meter mark for the season in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, displayed her versatility by earning the Lions five points with her first-place finish. Completing the race behind DeVito was junior Abigail Faith, clocking in at 5:26.37. Faith’s time was good for the fifth-best mile time recorded in the NJAC this season.
In the 3000-meter event, junior Emma Bean raced to an impressive first place performance, finishing the race in 11:02.39.
Freshman MaryKate Bailey earned second place with her time of 11:20.25, finishing less than two seconds before the top-placing Rider competitor.
Other notable performances from the women’s team came in a pair of record setting leaps by senior Meagan McGourty and freshman Tamika Voltaire in the high jump.
Despite their respective second and fourth place finishes, the women tied for the top high jump mark in the NJAC this season at 1.60 meters.
The men’s side featured stellar performances with many second and third place finishes.
In the 55-meter dash, senior Nicholas Genoese narrowly missed first place by .04 seconds, finishing in 6.63 against Rider freshman Marquis Smallwood. This mark sets his personal record for the season.
Junior Nathan Osterhus captured third place in the 400-meter dash, finishing in 52.62 and earning the Lions two points. Sophomore Richard Gruters also contributed two points to the final score with his third place finish in the 3000-meter event, clocking in at 9:09.97. Freshman Matthew Kole completed the race seconds later with his time of 9:11.41.
In the field events, sophomore Tim Reilly led the Lions with a pair of strong performances. In the long jump event, Reilly earned third place and two points with his mark of 6.39 meters. In the triple jump, Reilly secured another third-place finish and two additional points with his 12.73-meter performance.
After a disappointing weekend, the Lions look to bounce back at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University on Friday, Feb. 9.
