Rutgers track & field continues to find success, break school records in January, February meets
The Rutgers track and field team finished its regular season and will compete at the Big Ten Championships starting Friday. The Scarlet Knights have participated in five meets since the Villanova Invitational on January 20 and have continued to find success heading into the postseason.
Here's a breakdown of how Rutgers performed at each meet.
Bob Pollock Invitational
On January 26, a split Knights squad showed up in Clemson, South Carolina, for the two-day meet. While half of the program journeyed to the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex, the other half was sent to Boston for the John Thomas Terrier Classic at the Track & Tennis Center.
Rutgers did not take home the gold in South Carolina but managed to record several impressive performances, including three top-three finishes.
Sophomore jumper Celine-Jada Brown and junior jumper and sprinter Sincere Robinson continued their successful indoor seasons, placing second and third place in the long jump, respectively. Brown's jump of 6.28 meters (20' 7.25") landed her fourth all-time in program history, while Robinson's jump of 7.89 meters (25' 10.75") put him at third all-time for the Knights.
"We want to go down to places like Clemson and compete against the best of the best," said Director of Rutgers Track & Field and Cross Country Bobby Farrell. "(Brown and Robinson) are used to it, and they went there to try and win, so they did real well."
Other notable performances came in the men's pole vault event. Freshman pole vaulter Brian O'Sullivan and sophomore pole vaulter Kevin O'Sullivan placed third and fourth, respectively. They both cleared a height of 5.20 meters (17' 0.75"), which goes down as the fourth-best in school history.
John Thomas Terrier Classic
During the multi-meet weekend, the rest of the program headed to Boston to compete at the Track and Tennis Center. Rutgers did not earn any top-three finishes, but the Knights recorded eight top-10 all-time school records.
Graduate student distance runners Alec Snell and Christopher Hill, junior distance runner Brian Pedretti and freshman distance runner Gabriel Rodriguez all finished ninth as a team in the distance medley event with a time of 9:52.17.
Snell, Hill and Pedretti each recorded individual school records as well. Snell was 10th all-time in the 800-meter, Hill was sixth all-time in the men's mile and Pedretti was third all-time in the 3,000-meter.
Scarlet Knight Open
Rutgers hosted its second meet of the season on February 2 and 3 at The Armory in New York.
The Knights racked up 12 event title finishes and 12 top-10 all-time school records, but Farrell knows the team can do even better.
"We are never satisfied because the potential and ceiling for this team is so high," Farrell said. "We need to stay locked in and keep working."
Rutgers broke out the brooms at the meet, sweeping the shot put and pole vault events in both men's and women's.
Sophomore thrower Tey'ana Ames and junior thrower Andrew Krall threw for distances of 13.74 meters (45' 1.00") and 14.58 meters (47' 10.00"), respectively, to win the shot put events.
Kevin O'Sullivan cleared a height of 5.13 meters (16' 10.00") to win the men's pole vault, and for the fourth time this season, junior pole vaulter Chloe Timberg took home the gold in the pole vaulting event.
"The pole vault has just been doing great across the board, so they're all, for the most part, having one of their best seasons ever," Farrell said.
It was not just the field events that had the Knights seeing gold. Rutgers finished first in six track events: the women's 60-meter, women's 200-meter, women's 4x400 relay, men's 60-meter hurdles, men's 600-meter and the men's mile.
On the second day of the meet, the Knights also honored members of their 2024 senior class with a ceremony at The Armory.
"We had a great alumni event and were able to celebrate our seniors. It was a great weekend," Farrell said.
Badgers Windy City Invitational
Rutgers would then travel to the Dr. Worrill Track & Field Center at Gately Park in Chicago to compete at the Badgers Windy City Invitational on February 9 and 10.
The Knights picked up three event wins in the Windy City, finishing first in the 400-meter, long jump and pole vault events.
Freshman sprinter Bryce Tucker won the 400-meter with a time of 48.28, which was 0.40 seconds slower than his college best of 47.88. Brown was the long jump winner with a distance of 6.17 meters (20' 3"), a season-best for her.
For the pole vault event, freshman pole vaulter Emma Keating and junior pole vaulter Suzy Lacombe tied for first place, clearing a height of 3.95 meters (12' 11.5").
David Hemery Valentine Invitational
Again the program would be split, sending some runners and throwers to Boston for the David Hemery Valentine Invitational on the same day as the Badgers Windy City Invitational.
Despite Rutgers not winning any events, sophomore distance runner Sofia Condron, freshman distance runner Jenai Berry, graduate student middle distance runner Shelby Whetstone and junior distance runner Alex Carlson combined to set a new record time in the distance medley relay event. The group clocked in at 11:18.79, a time 9 seconds better than the previous record time set in 2022.
The indoor season will officially end after the NCAA Championships occur on March 8 and 9. The players who qualify will head out to Boston and compete against the top competition in the country. While not every athlete in the program will qualify, Farrell is certain they all have the potential to.
"This group in front of me, every single one of them has the talent and the ability to score and make finals," Farrell said. "It's really a whole different level of talent in the room."
For now, the Knights will look ahead to Friday, when the program will travel to Geneva, Ohio, to compete for two days in the Big Ten Championships at the Spire Institute.
"We want to go in there and it's simple to have the best performance we've ever had in the Big Ten — that's kind of the expectation," Farrell said.
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