NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Monmouth men’s track and field team captured first, while the women posted a second place finish at Friday’s Metro Team Challenge at the New York Armory in New York, N.Y. In total, eight event groups posted qualifying marks for ECAC/IC4A competition.
“We had a lot of very strong performances in our first trip to the Armory this year,” said Head Coach Joe Compagni. “We weren’t focusing on the team finish as much this week, but it was great to see the men come out on top and for the women to finish behind just Villanova with a big group of schools there.”
The men scored 109.5 points, more than 28 ahead of second place Rutgers. Villanova was third on the men’s side with 70 points. The Villanova women captured first, with MU scoring 85.5 points to claim second and UMBC notching 76 points in third.
Tionna Garner (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) qualified in the 400 with a time of 56.61, and Kate Frye (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro) was just behind her, also qualifying at 56.77. The women’s 4×400 relay of Garner, Andrea Olsen (Estell Manor, N.J./Buena Regional), Nia Driver (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence) and Frye also notched an ECAC time of 3:49.75, good for second place. Sydney Engelberger (Great Barrington, Mass./Monument Mountain RHS) qualified in the 1000, taking second, while the women’s DMR hit a qualifying time of 12:08.16, as a new group qualified.
Elsewhere in women’s competition, freshman Allie Wilson (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) and sophomore Jenna Cupp (Newark Valley, N.Y./Newark Valley) went one-two in the 800, with Wilson coming in at 2:12.89 and Cupp .05 back of that. Lauren McDonald (Roseland, N.J./West Essex Regional) claimed fourth in the pole vault at 3.60m, and Taylor Johnson (Woolwich, N.J./Kingsway Regional) won the shot put with a mark of 13.26m on her first throw.
The men’s competition saw Dylan Capwell (Hopatcong, N.J./Hopatcong) post a time of 1:49.47 in the 800 to take first, not only qualifying for IC4A’s but also for the U.S. Indoor Championships, scheduled to be held February 27-March 1 in Boston, Mass. At the time of the event, his mark ranked seventh nationally this season. He was joined in the 800 by Alex Leight (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge), who also qualified for IC4A competition. Ahmier Dupree (Lakewood, N.J./Lakewood/Montclair State) posted qualifying numbers in the 60 meter dash at 6.89 seconds.
In other men’s events, Ben Boyd (Port Murray, N.J./West Morris Central) finished third in the 400 with a time of 48.90 seconds. Kevin French (Fishkill, N.Y./John Jay) was fifth in the mile, while Tommy Darlington (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem) finished in that same spot in the 3000. Jalen Walker (Burlington, N.J./Burlington Township/BCIT) took first in the 60 meter hurdles, with Geordan Ferguson (Lakehurst, N.J./Manchester Township) taking second with times of 8.18 and 8.32 respectively. The MU men took fourth in both the 4×400 and the DMR, and Joey Marini (Lincoln Park, N.J./Boonton) was also fourth in the high jump. Bobby Fisher (Delran, N.J./Delran) took fourth in the pole vault, and Liam Vogt (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) took that same spot in the long jump. Marini notched a second place finish in the triple jump at 14.70m.
A group of Hawks will compete today at the Tiger Open at Princeton University.
