CRUZ HIGHLIGHTS TRACK AND FIELD'S PERFORMANCE AT GREAT DANE CLASSIC WITH METS AND MAAC'S ON HORIZON
New York, N.Y. (January 19, 2007)--With many of the team's athletes sitting out in preparation for next week's Metropolitan Championship, Manhattan Track and Field had a limited number of entries in the Great Dane Classic on Friday night at the 168th Street Armory.
Accounting for the men's lone six points of the meet was senior hurdler Joe Cruz. Cruz, the 2005 MAAC Outdoor Champion in the 110m hurdles, clocked in at 7.65s for third place in the 55m hurdles finishing behind only University of Albany's Jean Juste's time of 7.61s and Rider University's Randy Nixon's winning time of 7.58s. Cruz will have another chance to race against Nixon at the same venue in less than a month when the two will square off as the favorites in the 55m hurdles at the MAAC Championships. Over the past three years, the two have been battling in an attempt to be the MAAC's top hurdler with each athlete getting the best of the other at different points in time.
The Lady Jaspers, who scored 24 points to finish ninth out of 18 teams, received a portion of its scoring from freshmen as Diane Torsell scored in the sprints, while Lindsay Southard earned distance points.
Torsell, who was named the MAAC Track and Field Female Performer of the Week back on December 12, clocked in at 7.38s for the 55m dash, but barely missed out on the finals. The Indiana native, however, would not be denied a top eight finish in the 200m dash, taking sixth with a time of 25.36s. Manhattan's next best finisher in the event was junior Erin Gregorek who posted a mark of 26.95s. Gregorek also managed to claim seventh place in the 400m dash with a time of 60.46s.
Southard, who was the squad's top performer during cross country season, took seventh in the 3K.
Manhattan will try to climb back on top of the Metropolitan Conference when the championships commence at the Armory on Friday, January 26.
