Rutgers men's track, field takes 1st place at Metropolitan Championships
This past weekend, the Rutgers men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted the Metropolitan Championships at the Bauer Track and Field Complex. Friday and Saturday both served as days for the Scarlet Knights to show off their talents and ultimately take several titles at the conclusion of the meet.
On the women’s team, there were several notable achievements throughout both days. In the 100-meter dash, freshman Iyanla Kollock got second place out of 32 competitors, with a time of 11.93. Kollock was able to score a personal record in this race.
Current Division I national record holder, freshman Reanda Richards, claimed first place once again. She ran a time of 58.57. While it was not beating her own record, she crushed the competition by nearly 5 seconds.
Freshman Ajae Alvarez-Tyler, Arianne Strunkey, senior Jenna Sobieski and Richards ran a total time of 3:44.39 for a first place title in the 4x400 meter relay.
Moving into the field events, sophomore Courteney Campbell claimed the high jump title with a jump of 1.75 meters, while junior Rhonda Rogombe fell behind into second place clearing a height of 1.66 meters.
In long jump, senior Oniesha Clarke claimed the title with a jump of 6.05 meters, which was nearly 5 inches further than the following competitor.
Another jumper, freshman Zia Barr, claimed the triple jump title in a close margin. Barr jumped 11.90 meters, while the second-place finisher jumped 11.87 meters. Barr’s jump came as a personal record, while her previous record was 11.73 meters.
In javelin, there was a sweep of first and second place. Junior Kathryn Campbell threw 45.52 meters, and freshman Alexa Gardner threw a close 44.58 meters for first and second place respectively.
On the men’s team, there were also several notable finishes. To start, seniors Izaiah Brown and Sterling Pierce swept in the 100-meter dash. Brown ran a personal record of 10.49 for first, and Pierce also had a personal record of 10.74 for second place.
The 200-meter dash had the same outcome. Sophomore Taj Burgess claimed first in a time of 21.25, while Pierce claimed second place once again with a time of 21.95.
Burgess went on to claim the 400-meter title as well in a time of 46.06. Burgess won by more than 2 seconds, which is an impressive achievement in a short race like this.
In the 1,500-meter race, sophomore Billy Hill ran a 3:51.30, which was a personal record and fast enough for a first-place finish.
Freshman Andrew Daniluk claimed first in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.86. Daniluk has been creeping his way up the leaderboards throughout his first year on the Banks and has finally scored a first-place finish along with a personal record.
Freshman Jameson Woodell, a 400-meter hurdle racer, ran a 54.31 to claim the title. In third place was sophomore Chris Jenkins, who followed behind with a 56.35 race time.
In the men’s 4x100-meter relay, freshman A’Nan Bridgett, Brown, Burgess and Pierce all scored a first-place finish, as well as a school record in a time of 40.49. Switching Bridgett for Jenkins, the 4x400-meter relay also claimed first place in a time of 3:18.28.
Men’s high jump was an impressive event for Rutgers. With a first-place finish by junior Perry Christie, second-place finish by senior Jordan Lorenzo, third-place finish by freshman Semaj Willis and a tie for a fourth-place finish including Bridgett, the Knights have talented high jumpers to say the least.
Another sweep came from pole vault, where freshman David Bausmith claimed the title with a mark of 4.45 meters, and junior Jarrod Brovero followed in second with a mark of 4.40 meters.
Sophomore Malachi Davis nabbed first place in the triple jump finals with a jump of 15.47 meters, and was just short of a personal record.
Senior John Mooers and sophomore Jason Campbell swept discus once again. Mooers claimed first with a mark of 52.79 meters, and Campbell nabbed a personal record as well as a second-place finish with a mark of 52.57 meters.
Javelin came with another sweep. Graduate student Chris Mirabelli and juniors Greg Harnett and Michael Thomas claimed first, second and third, respectively.
With so many successes at this meet, these finishes only touched the surface of how many podium finishes there were in all. Rutgers will head to Charlottesville for the Virginia Challenge on April 19 and 20.
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