Rutgers emerges with four victories at Thomas Terrier Classic
In the first of three trips to Boston this season, the Rutgers men’s and women’s track and field teams emerged with four victories and 13 podium finishes.
The next trip to Boston will be in February when the Scarlet Knights compete in the Boston Valentine Invite.
When it came to jumping great distances, sophomore A’nan Bridgett of the men's team did it better than anyone else. He took home the crown in long jump. Bridgett's distances were 7.43 meters, 7.54 meters, 7.36 meters and 7.41 meters. He fouled on the last two jumps, but second-place finisher Terrel Davis of Hartford failed to take advantage.
On the women’s side of the competition, junior Jacqueline Simmons took off and landed at 5.71 meters, good for second place.
Another Rutgers victory came by jumping vertically. Senior Perry Christie of the men's team soared to victory in the high jump with a successful attempt at 2.16 meters. Junior Semaj Willis of the men's team took the bronze in the same event with a jump of 2.05 meters.
The lone throwing victory for the Knights came in shot-put. Sophomore Jasmine Van Note of the women's team hurled the weighted ball 14.26 meters.
Sophomore Nadale Buntin of the men's team fell short of a victory in the triple jump but claimed third place with a top distance of 14.63 meters.
On the track, Rutgers secured two wins, as well as several top-three finishes.
True freshman Claudine Smith of the women's team found herself in third place after running the 60m hurdles in 8.63 seconds.
Junior Christopher Jenkins of the men's team finished in second place in the 400m. He ran the lap in 47.82 seconds, just .41 seconds behind first place finisher Yourry Tapande-Ngombe of Fairleigh Dickinson.
Junior Taj Burgess of the men's team continued his blazing fast start to the season by posting a time of 1:00.73 in what has been his bread and butter, the 500m event.
He beat his record-setting time set at the first meet of the year. Burgess currently sits in second place all-time in the NCAA for the event. The all-time record is 59.82 seconds, set in 1986 by Roddie Haley of Arkansas.
Reanda Richards of the women's team took control of the 500m and finished in 1:12.66, putting her in second place.
In the 200m, sophomore Antonio Tarantino of the men's team claimed victory by .02 seconds, finishing mere inches in front of Pierre Bervensky from Monroe College.
Tarantino wasn’t as successful in the short 60m dash. He posted a 6.98 time, securing a fifth-place finish. Due to the nature of the event, there was only .17 seconds separating Tarantino from the first place finisher, Josephus Lyles, running for Adidas.
The squad competing in the 4x400 meter relay, composed of juniors Willis, Jenkins, Buntin and Burgess, finished second with a time of 3:13.18.
Their counterparts on the women’s team also finished second. Sophomores Ajae Alvarez-Tyler, Mackenzie Prezume, Richards and junior Kayla Jackson combined for a 3:47.05 finish.
On Thursday, the Knights will head to Staten Island for the first championship meet of the season. The Metropolitan Championships mark the middle of the invite season, with three races before the championship season kicks into high gear.
For updates on the Rutgers men's and women’s track and field teams, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
