Stevens Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams both had a very successful season opener after attending The College of New Jersey’s Winter Opener held at the New York City Armory on Saturday, December 2. Although team scores were not compiled, many individual athletes posted very impressive results following the event.
On the women’s team, this meet marked the collegiate debuts of first-years Isabella Shanley, Kate Cen, Maya Lapinski, and Anacarolina Ventura. Senior Kristen Williams won the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 9.09 seconds after shaving off almost three-tenths of a second from her preliminary time of 9.36 seconds, marking the second-fastest time of her career. Senior Laura Mathews followed Williams in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing third in the finals with a time of 9.15 seconds. Additionally, Shanley finished 13th in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.19 seconds and fifth in the 300-meter dash with a time of 42.21 seconds. In the 600, senior Jacqueline Lulaj finished fifth with a time of 1:42.68, setting a new personal best, while sophomores Isabel Vogel and Taylor Enes finished seventh and eighth respectively, with times of 1:44.09 and 1:45.49. In the high jump, Lapinski and junior Caroline Tighe tied for third place, making a height of 1.57 meters, while sophomore Maggie Previglian and senior Allie Canciani tied for eighth with a height of 1.52 meters. In the pole vault, sophomore Alexis Merola finished in third place, successfully clearing three meters. Additionally, sophomore Stephanie Ryazanova placed close behind Merola at fourth, also clearing three meters, but needing only one extra attempt to do so. Finally, in the weight throw, graduate student Ashley Muliawan finished fifth, throwing to 12.28 meters, clearing the 12-meter mark two times and setting a new personal record.
On the men’s team, this meet marked the collegiate debuts of first-years Doug Winant, Tyler Hackett, George Maroun, Joshua Lim, Chris Persico, Justin Gajewski, and Ryan Paradine. Winant finished sixth in the 60-meter dash out of 46 runners, finishing in a time of 7.23 seconds, while sophomore Connor Robinson followed shortly after, finishing 10th with a time of 7.30 seconds. In the 300-meter dash, sophomore Kyle Savino finished 19th, with a time of 36.48 seconds. In the mile race, Paradine finished 10th with a time of 4:39.55, while sophomore Mark Bigsby finished 18th with a time of 4:48.94. In the 5000-meter, sophomore Mick Barbi finished 20th with a time of 17:02.14. Additionally, in the high jump, Lim finished sixth, clearing a height of 1.87 meters, while also finishing 14th in the triple jump, making it to 12.35 meters. In the pole vault, Persico tied for 11th place, clearing a height of 3.85 meters, while senior Andrew Anantharajah and sophomore Kyle Miller both cleared 3.85 meters but each required more attempts, and were both tied for 15th. In the weight throw, senior Colin Keady finished sixth, throwing 14.20 meters on his first attempt and setting a new personal record.
Both teams will return to compete in Lehigh University’s two-day Fast Times Before Finals meet on December 8 and 9 in Bethlehem, PA.
