Men’s and women’s T&F at the Conference Challenge Cup

On Saturday, January 28, the Conference Challenge Cup was hosted by Nazareth College at the Golisano Training Center in Rochester, New York. 

Senior Laura Mathews won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.79 seconds and the 400-meter dash in 57.93 seconds. She leads the conference in both of these events and is ranked 26th nationally in the 60-meter dash and 16th nationally in the 200-meter dash. Mathews also ran the fastest preliminary race, clocking in at 8.63 seconds. When discussing Mathews’ performance,  Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Head Coach John Kolibab stated, “Laura now sits in the top-30 in the country in four separate disciplines after an incredibly impressive 400 meter win. No one in the history of Stevens Track and Field has shown this kind of range at such a high level”. 

Another top finisher, Kristen Williams, ran the 60-meter dash in 8.4 seconds, earning fourth place. Additionally, Williams ran a season best in the 200 with a time of 28.79 and finished sixth in the 60-meter hurdles. Sophomore Caroline Tighe earned second in the high jump and a season best with a height of 1.57 meters. There were many other key performances from athletes such as Allie Canciani, Maggie Previglian, Rachel Pinho, Jacqueline Lulaj, Nina Burden, Rachel Rouse, Fionna Feerick, Alexis Merola, and Liana Meyer.

The Men’s Track and Field team also had a successful Conference Challenge Cup. Kolibab gave his insight on what this particular event means to him, stating, “The Conference Cup Challenge is always one of the highlights of our season. Pairing up with Misericordia and going against some of the best teams from other conferences in the area is a perfect way to start the back half of our season. We told the team that this was the meet to really kick things into gear and they responded in a big way.”

Senior Ronnie Melao finished second in the mile with a time of 4:21.85, only in second by eight-hundredths-of-a-second. This moved Melao into first place on the conference leaderboard. He also earned 12th in the 800-meter race. 

Other top finishers included junior Jake Aylmer, placing seventh in the mile, junior Liam Concannon, coming in 14th in the 3,000 meter, and junior Colin Keady with a personal best weight throw of 13.96 meters. Additionally, Federico Yacoubian, Kevin Finck, Andrew Anantharajah, and Frank Orlando all had key performances. 
Concerning the next track meet, both the men’s and women’s teams will travel to Boston, MA to compete in the David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Friday, February 10.