Princeton, N.J. (May 11, 2007)? As the IC4A and ECAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships commence this weekend at Princeton University, Jasper Track and Field could not be happier being back at that venue. The permanent Home of the Tigers has been the home of numerous impressive Manhattan performances during the past two years.
Two of the performances have come courtesy of senior Tiina Magi. When the women's triple jump begins at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, Magi will be defending her crown from a year ago when she became the first ever Manhattan woman to win the ECAC triple jump title. Magi set a new school record with her winning m ark of 12.51m, and the best triple jumper in program history eventually posted a top seasonal mark of 12.98m.
Only weeks prior to the 2006 ECAC Championships, Magi broke the Manhattan indoor triple jump record at Princeton's Sam Howell Invitational. Although an outdoor meet, inclement weather forced the jumps to be moved into Jadwin Gymnasium, where Magi won the competition at 12.23m.
About 60 yards away from the triple jump runway, junior Chris Sole will be trying to improve on his 2006 All-East performance at the high jump apron on Sunday morning. Sole cleared 2.04m to finish eighth. At this year's IC4A Indoor Championships, Sole cleared 2.08m to claim bronze.
Like Magi, junior shot putter Milan Jotanovic will look to repeat in his primary event.
Jotanovic was able to hold off 2006 NCAA Outdoor All-American Derek Anderson of Northeastern to win his first IC4A Outdoor crown at last year's meet. Jotanovic's throw of 19.04m bested Anderson's mark of 18.75m.
Jotanovic experienced little difficulty in winning his second consecutive IC4A Indoor title this past March with a mark of 19.07m. The Jasper was so far ahead of the field that he passed on his final three attempts.
Jotanovic and teammate Zoran Loncar also surpassed the IC4A qualifying standard in the discus, but neither will be competing in that event this weekend.
Instead, Loncar will be looking to recapture the IC4A men's hammer crown he won in 2005. Two teammates, one of which was last year's champ, will be vying for the same title when the event gets underway on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Junior Paul Peulich captured the 2006 title with a then personal record throw of 63.96m. Freshman Seid Mujanovic, who was victorious in the hammer at last weekend's MAAC Championships, rounds out the Jasper hammer entries.
Making his first IC4A Outdoor appearance, sophomore Kosta Randjic is expected to be active on both Saturday and Sunday. Although earning a qualifying mark last year, Randjic could not compete due to injury. On Saturday at noon, he is penciled in for the javelin competition after improving his seasonal best at the MAAC meet. Randjic produced a winning throw of 62.76m.
On Sunday, Randjic will join Dexter Jules in the men's triple jump. Jules also withdrew from the triple jump in 2006 due to injury.
In addition to Jotanovic and Loncar in the men's discus, Manhattan has three other scratches. A week after winning MAAC titles in the event, Milos Vuckovic and Erin Kennedy have been scratched from Friday evening's men's and women's 3K steeple chase. The women's 4x800m relay team will not compete either.