The men’s and women’s track and field teams took to Icahn Stadium in New York City over the weekend to compete in the Metropolitan Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Freshmen Logan Natale and Mike Okafor-Brown, sophomore Brandon Balcacer and junior Terrell Lockett started the meet off strong with a second-place finish in the 4x100m relay, running a combined time of 43.12 seconds.
Sophomores Ryan Pena and Saim Syed, along with junior Ryan Scully, competed in the 800m run, where Pena placed 15th with a time of 2:00.38. Syed and Scully clocked in at 2:00.84 and 2:01.72, respectively.
Scully and Pena were joined by junior Michael Mohr and senior Anthony Bertollo in the 4x800m relay, where the team took third with a combined time of 8:18.08.
Sophomore Braden Holm and senior Sebastian Pross competed in the hammer throw, Pross placing sixth with a mark of 48.89m and Holm grabbing eighth with a mark of 42.05m. Holm went on to compete in the shot put, where he threw 11.27m for a ninth-place finish.
The women were led by junior Rebecca Kneppel who placed first in the 100m dash with a time of 12.51 seconds. She shared in an email to the Ramapo News that she and her coach “wanted to scratch from that race, but [she] decided to race and won! It was also a windy and cold day making it not the most enjoyable meet, but [her] opponents were just as affected…”
For the future, Kneppel “hope[s] to make it to nationals for the 200-meter race and get [her] 400-meter race time down.”
Star freshman Dale Leonard clocked in at 2:13.74 in the 800m run, earning second place. Senior Suzanne Zaugg and junior Zoey Cassavell ran the 1,500m run, finishing in ninth and 14th with times of 4:59.52 and 5:04.60, respectively. The 200m dash saw freshman Izzy Crespo take 16th with a time of 27.34 seconds.
Kneppel, Crespo and freshmen Ashley Gordon and Jianna Gorospe clocked in at 50.33 seconds in the 4x100m relay, grabbing second place. Kneppel and Crespo also competed in the 4x400m relay, alongside Leonard and junior Barbara Exilus. They finished in fourth place with a time of 4:06.59.
This Friday and Saturday, the teams will compete in the Larry Ellis Invitational hosted by Princeton University before heading to the TCNJ Invitational on Saturday.
ajones11@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
