New York, N.Y. (February 16, 2007)?Head coach Dan Mecca can only imagine what could have happened on Friday night at 168th Street Armory. Instead of imagining, however, Mecca would only praise the effort his women's team gave and offer congratulatory words for Rider University in ending Manhattan Women's Track and Field's streak of ten consecutive MAAC Indoor team titles.
Finishing with 195 points, the Broncs bumped the Jaspers, who totaled 169.5 points on the night, down to second place in the team standings for the first time in over a decade.
“First off, my congratulations goes to the entire Rider program for a fantastic meet,” said Mecca. “Their coaching staff has always done a great job, and their athletes are deserving of the accomplishment.”
Competing without the services of a top-seeded sprinter in both the 55m and 200m dashes and the defending high jump champ amongst others, Manhattan could not muster up enough points to overcome the firepower of Rider, but it was not due to lack of effort.
“We weren't in the best of situations coming into the meet, but I cannot say enough about how proud I am of our women,” said Mecca. “This young team gave their best effort, and as a coach I cannot ask for any more than that.”
No effort on Friday night was as complete as that of senior Tiina Magi. En route to being named the MAAC Indoor Most Outstanding Co-Performer for field events, Magi won three of the four jumps, while also scoring in the shot put. The 2006 ECAC Outdoor champion in the triple jump won her signature event with a mark of 12.23m. The only jumping event she failed to conquer was the high jump, but the senior still managed a tie for second place with sophomore teammate Paige McConney. In the pole vault, Magi edged out teammate Meredith Mante (3.20m) for the title, while freshman Alexandra MacDougall also picked up fourth place points in the event by clearing 2.90m.
Magi, however, was not content with just doing her work in the field as she also scored in the 55m hurdles.
Seasonal bests were plentiful amongst the distance squad, beginning with the first running event of the meet. In the 5000m, freshman Lindsay Southard teamed up with sophomore Ellen Dobbin to well surpass their seed times and post third and fourth place finishes. Southard was the first non-Iona College finisher in the event with her time of 18:23.89, while Dobbin chopped nearly a half-minute off of her seed time to take fourth at 18:32.38.
Shortly thereafter, sophomore Sarah Rogers ran a huge PR to lead three Manhattan scorers in the mile. By clocking in at 5:14.62, Rogers finished fourth, while graduate student Megan Radermacher claimed seventh (5:21.31) and junior Eryka Perreault finished eighth (5:22.33). Sophomore Julie Carr, who finished 11th overall, also ran her best time of the season to win the second section.
Rogers returned to the track two hours later to complete her double with a seventh place finish in the 3K (10:42.35). Finishing ahead of Rogers in fifth place was fellow sophomore Melissa Trauscht (10:35.66).
Only 50 minutes after the completion of the mile, Radermacher was back on the track capturing the 800m crown with a time of 2:17.52. Freshman Mary Consiglio joined Radermacher in the event's scoring with a seventh place finish (2:23.52).
Radermacher's twin sister Shannon joined in her sibling as a fellow conference champ by winning the 400m title, but not without stiff competition from teammate Erin Gregorek. Shannon Radermacher crossed the finish line in 58.29s to claim gold, while Gregorek was the runner-up with her seasonal best time of 58.51s. Junior Lauren Cervino also picked up three team points in the event by finish sixth (60.93s).
Gregorek came right back to score some more with a fifth place finish in the 200m dash (26.87s). Fellow junior Amy Colantuono took seventh in the 200m by clocking in at 27.11s.
Gregorek, Colantuono, and Cervino along with the efforts of sophomore Ashley Mlotkiewicz defended Manhattan's 4x400m title by finishing more than three seconds faster than the Rider squad.
Senior Elizabeth Jeudy was Manhattan's top point-getter in the throws. Jeudy took fifth in weight (11.33m), while finishing seventh in the shot (10.29m).