Tempe, Ariz. (March 24, 2007)--Competing as a team for the first time in three weeks and the first time outdoors in 2007, a number of Manhattan Track and Field athletes appeared to be shaking off some rust at the ASU Clif Bar Invitational, but some athletes, especially Tiina Magi, appeared in mid-season form. Magi joined Milan Jotanovic, Zoran Loncar, and Paul Peulich in qualifying for the NCAA East Region Championships on the first day of the outdoor season.
Magi, who had not been in action since winning the ECAC Indoor triple jump title on March 4, picked up right where she left off at the conclusion of indoor season. In addition to winning the Clif Bar triple jump crown with her NCAA Regional qualifying mark of 12.53m, Magi tied a seven-year old meet record in the process. The Manhattan senior matched University of Southern California's Tatyana Obuchova's mark from 2000.
As one can tell from looking at the results from February's MAAC Championships, there is not much Magi doesn't do. Magi, who scored in six events and won three of the four jumps at the MAAC meet, had a javelin in her hand on Saturday. She threw 34.88m.
Jotanovic became the third Manhattan thrower of the weekend to book his trip to the NCAA Regionals, but the 2007 NCAA Indoor All-American was not going full force. Jotanovic, who moved into a different phase of training following his new PR of 19.56m at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 10, finished third overall with a mark of 17.71m. Loncar and Peulich earned their tickets during Friday's hammer throw competition.
On the track, a pair of Jasper seniors just missed meeting the IC4A qualifying standards in their respective events, but nonetheless it was a good first time out for Joe Cruz and Darnell Douglas.
Cruz will need to trim only a tenth of a second off his 110m hurdles time in order to earn a spot in the IC4A Outdoor field. The New York City native clocked in at 15.04s for 18th overall.
Douglas, who won the MAAC Indoor 400m title by clocking in at 48.45s for a new meet record, completed the 400m in 48.87s on Saturday, about a half-second off of the IC4A standard.
Freshman sprinter Diane Torsell saw her first action in nearly two months. After an injury prevented the top seed in the 55m and 200m dashes from competing at the MAAC Indoor Championships, Torsell had been working hard to return to the track. The Indiana native posted a 200m time of 25.85s at ASU.
On the distance side, freshman Matt Kaftanski set a personal record in the 1500m at 4:02.63.
