Princeton, N.J. (April 8, 2006)--With the rain falling and the outdoor temperature hovering around 40 degrees, it was not exactly a record-breaking type of atmosphere in Princeton, N.J. at the Sam Howell Invitational, but do not suggest that to Manhattan junior Tiina Magi. After breaking the school's outdoor triple jump record last weekend at the UNLV Invite in Las Vegas, Magi dodged the rain drops at Princeton to finish second amongst collegiate entries in the high jump and fifth in the long jump. Then, with the help of the inclement weather, Magi was able to make her day memorable by accomplishing something very rarely done. The junior broke the school's indoor triple jump record at an outdoor spring meet.
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With meet officials deciding to move the triple jump indoors due to the harsh elements outside, Magi was presented an unusual opportunity to ride the momentum she produced by breaking the Manhattan outdoor triple jump record last weekend and try to become the school's indoor record holder in the event. Magi took full advantage of the rare occurrence by leaping 12.23m (40' 1 1/2") to take first place in the event and become the Lady Jasper indoor and outdoor triple jump record holder within a week's time. Not to be overlooked, however, are Magi's performance in the long jump and high jump. The junior from Estonia was not named the Performer of the Meet for field events at the 2006 MAAC Indoor Championships for her expertise in only one event. At the championship meet, she scored in all four jumping events to earn that title, and her well-roundedness was evident once again at Princeton.
Magi has already locked up a spot in the triple jump field at both the NCAA Regional Championships and the ECAC Championships. After Saturday, she is also guaranteed an entry in the high jump at the ECAC meet, as her second place height of 1.70m (5' 7") meets the ECAC qualifying standard. In the long jump, Magi produced her best mark of the season by jumping 5.46m (17' 11").
The only jumping event Magi did not participate in Princeton was the pole vault, but senior Jenna Daly had Manhattan well-represented in that area. The four-time MAAC pole vault champion placed third in the Sam Howell field by clearing 3.50m (11' 6"). On the men's side freshman Nikolay Tkachenko, who won the 2006 MAAC indoor crown, finished third on the men's side in the pole vault by producing a new personal record with his mark of 4.60m (15' 1").
Junior Nick Newman added to the squad's jumping success on the cold, wet afternoon by winning the meet's long jump and surpassing the IC4A qualifying standard in the triple jump. In the long jump, Newman's best leap of 6.98m (22' 11") bested the marks of Princeton's Derek Davis and Kevin Chan of Rutgers for the crown. Newman missed out on the top spot in the triple jump, but his second place mark of 14.69m, which was 29 centimeters better than his seed mark, stands as his best of the season and earns Manhattan another entry at the IC4A's.
There were no Tiina Magi-like performances on the running side for the Jaspers, but the Manhattan sprinters and distance runners held their own amongst the competition on hand. Sophomore Jasmine Rogers finished fifth in the 100m dash with her time of 12.72s, while Darnell Douglas and Paul Papitto posted the best performances on Saturday by Manhattan male sprinters, as they took second in the 200m dash (22.21s) and sixth in the 400m dash (50.74s), respectively.
In the hurdles, Rogers took first in the 100 meter hurdles at 14.96s. Freshman Kelton Cumberbatch allowed the Jaspers to come home with a first place performance in the hurdles on both the men's and women's sides, as he won the men's 400m hurdles.
In addition to the hurdles and jumps, the 10,000 meter event was also kind to Manhattan, as Caryn Capalbo and Anthony Vernaci set new personal bests in the event and Mike Foley earned an IC4A bid. As he completed the race in 31:04.40, Foley finished less than three seconds after the event champion Breton Bonnette of Penn. Vernaci was a little more than a minute off of that pace, as he logged a new PR of 32:11.92. Capalbo continued her benchmark senior season by upping her personal record in the 10K to 38:27.23, which put her in fifth place.
With the Metropolitan Outdoor Championships less than two weeks away, Jasper Track and Field will tune up for that meet as they return to New Jersey on April 15 for the Princeton Invitational.