Photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
The men’s and women’s track teams of Ramapo College competed in the NJAC Indoor Championships on Monday in Staten Island, New York. Both teams finished the competition in fourth place.
For the men, sophomore Jeremy Hernandez repeated his title in the mile, this time running the race in 4:12.11, a new meet record and the eighth-fastest in the country.
Hernandez also won the crown in the 800-meter run, finishing the race in 1:54.90.
Senior Paul Jeulis also took home an NJAC title, winning the 3,000-meter race in 8:43.32.
Junior Calvin Hartman won the pole vault, clearing 4.65 meters to take home the title, while junior Michael Begen was the best shot put thrower in the NJAC, throwing it 15.46 meters.
All four of the marks were qualifers for the ECAC Championships.
Freshman Matt Tuohy finished the 5,000-meter race in second place at 15:14.27, while junior Thomas Moore placed fifth overall in the 3,000-meter race, running it in 9:03.58.
Junior Kevin Diana ran the 60-yard dash in 7.12 seconds, good for fourth place, while finishing in seventh place in the 200-meter race at 23.10 seconds.
The 4×400-meter relay, made up of sophomore Aaron Wood, Hernandez, Diana and senior Matt Orozco, clocked in at 3:33.30, good for fifth place.
The distance medley relay team finished in fourth place with a time of 11:11.84, ran by sophomore Erik Van Der Wilt, freshman Kevin Edwards, Orozco and freshman Thomas McPhee.
Sophomore Paris Hughes was the only NJAC Champion for the Lady Roadrunners, as she ran the mile in an ECAC qualifying time of 5:10.10.
“Paris went in as the underdog and ran a great tactical race to upset two athletes that came in with better times,” said Cassavell. “She is another great competitor and we look forward to her continued success.”
Junior Mariah Blanton placed second overall in the 200-meter dash (26.48) and fourth in the 60-meter dash (8.06).
Freshman Emily Croonquist finished the 800-meter race at 2:20.17, while Hughes finished with a sixth-place 2:21.41.
The 4×400-meter relay team, made up of senior Na’Shimah Allen, Croonquist, freshman Meredith Butler and senior Alicia Green, posted a time of 4:12.25 for a fourth place finish. The 4×800-meter relay team placed fifth overall when they clocked in at 10:45.97. The team was made up of junior Kelly Koss, sophomore Jenny Wankmuller, freshman Amanda Matesicand and senior Graciela Morilla.
In the high jump, sophomore Jessica Cusick placed second overall, when she cleared 1.53 meters. She also placed in fifth in the shot put with a throw of 10.65 meters, while senior Melanie Odatalla placed sixth with a mark of 10.61 meters. Cusick also finished in fourth in the weight throw with a throw of 12.64 meters.
Senior Emily Shipley placed second overall in the pole vault when she cleared 3.51 meters.
Sophomore Amber Edwards placed third in the triple jump when she posted a mark of 10.81 meters.
Despite dropping in the NJAC rankings, Cassavell was happy with her team.
“We are a small team and we can’t cover all the events so I was not disappointed in our performance as a team. We have some very talented younger athletes so we are looking forward to building up some weak areas so we can perform better as a team in the future.”
Both teams will compete at the Fast Track Last Chance meet in Staten Island on Saturday.
rmorik@ramapo.edu
