The men’s and women’s track and field teams hit first place and personal and season-best times at the Alvernia PLEX Shootout on February 1st in Reading, PA. Both teams ran at 10 a.m., going up against other MAC competitors, including Alvernia, Arcadia, Delaware Valley, FDU-Florham, Hood, King’s, and York.
With no team score, many of the runners on the men’s team landed personal bests. First-years Ethan Stallone and William Ladd finished in the men’s 60m hurdles’ prelims with personal bests with times of 8.54 and 8.89. Graduate student Liam Concannon and first-year Connor Efinger both finished in third, Concannon in the men’s mile with a time of 4:30.37 and Efinger in the triple jump with a distance of 11.86 meters. Continuing with their excellent performance, junior Kyle Savino finished second at 23.3 seconds in the men’s 200m.
There were a handful of new personal and season records in the men’s 800m and 500m, with seven of the men’s runners hitting impressive times. Junior Danny Jutras landed first in the 800m (1:58.87), with first-years Enrico Parrella (fifth, 2:00.72) and Matt Hodorowski (12th, 2:03.81) on his tail, both finishing with personal bests. In the 500m, graduate student Bryan Onody and first-year Cillian Griffin notched personal bests, with Onody in sixth at 15:59.45 and Griffin in 10th at 16:27.20.
Junior Brandon Kiefer jumped a personal best in the high jump at 1.78 meters, landing fifth, and senior Cullen Grady landed a season-best in the pole vault at 3.32 meters high. Ending the field events, junior Cooper Kinsley placed ninth in the shot put with 11.73 meters, and sophomore Gabriel Kovach ended with 9.92 meters — setting a season-best.
Starting with the women’s field events, juniors Alexis Merola and Stephanie Ryazanova landed first and ninth in the pole vault at heights of 3.30m and 2.70m, respectively. Junior Caroline Tighe won first in the high jump, followed by junior Maggie Previgilan and graduate student Allie Canciani, who tied for fifth and seventh, and sophomore Isabella Shanley at eighth. Tighe continued her success in the field events with a season-best distance of 4.78m in the long jump.
The women’s team saw successful times in the women’s 5000m, 60m hurdles, the mile, 800m, and 200m. Graduate student Fionna Feerick landed a personal best at 19:18.18, and senior Samantha Rozek landed a season-best at 20:07.22 in the 500m. In the 60m, Shanley took first in both the prelims and finals with personal best times of 9.82 and 9.74. Sophomore Kaitlyn Adams set a personal best in the mile (fifth, 5:38.80), soon after she was junior Gianna Adamo (17th, 6:25.30). Runners in the 800m included first-year Isabella Gabay (fifth, 2:29.54), juniors Taylor Enes (seventh, 2:34.64) and Isabel Vogel (19th), Canciani (18th), and sophomore Kate Cen (24th), with Adams setting a personal record. Another personal record was set by junior Lauren Alley in the 200m at 16th with a time of 29.04.
Ending the meet, the team of Ryazanova, Alley, Shanley, and first-year Anya Sadowski placed third in the 4x200m, clocking in at 1:51.88. The team of Canciani, Cen, Enes, and Vogel landed second in the 4x400m at 4:35.58.
The men’s and women’s track teams will be seen continuing their hot streak at the Big Apple Invite at Staten Island, NY.
