NEW YORK - Cara Rostant (Valley Stream, N.Y.) broke a 20-year-old school record and Tom Bechert (Munich, Germany) qualified for the IC4A Championships in two different events during the Manhattan College indoor track & field team's dual meet against Columbia at the New Balance Armory Track & Field Center on Friday. Rostant established a new mark in the women's 300 meters, while Bechert posted IC4A qualifiers in the high jump and 60 meter hurdles.
After coming up just shy of Lisa Daley's school-record of 40.30 seconds last weekend at the Manhattan College Opener, Rostant topped the mark on Friday. She was hand-timed in 39.8 seconds, which converts to a time of 39.94. Daley's record had stood since 1992.
Bechert, who achieved an IC4A-qualifier last weekend in the pole vault, cleared 2.04 meters (6 feet, 8¼ inches) in the high jump on Friday. He then registered an 8.1-second clocking in the 60 hurdles. Bechert also won the long jump at the meet, leaping 6.88 m (22'7).
Rokas Kirlys (Kamaji, Lithuania) also qualified for the IC4A Championships on Friday. He won the shot put with a toss of 16.50 m (54'1¾). Anastas Papazov (Balchik, Bulgaria) had a strong showing in both throwing events, finishing second in the weight throw (18.42 m, 60'5¼) and third in the shot put (13.48 m, 44'2¾). Yardley Keshinover (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) grabbed first place in the men's pole vault (4.26 m, 14'0), while Trevell Moxey (Lansdale, Pa.) was victorious in the men's triple jump (14.04 m, 46'0¾).
Manhattan's third IC4A qualifier of the day was Mikael Rojeras (Sala, Sweden) in the 1000 meters. He easily won the event in 2:26.1. Fresh off setting the school-record last week, Abdias Myrtil (Wheatley Heights, N.Y.) captured first place in the 60 meters with a time of 6.7 seconds. In the 300 meters, Sheldon Derenoncourt (Patchogue, N.Y.) notched a winning time of 34.9 seconds.
On the women's side, Ashley Bowman (Elmont, N.Y.) grabbed first place in the 60 meters (7.6) and placed third in the 300 (40.5), while Ieva Vitola (Jekabpils, Latvia) was second in the 60 (7.7) and fourth in the 300 (41.7). In the 60 meter hurdles, Doreen Horschig (Lumpzig, Germany) was clocked in 8.7 seconds, good enough for second place. Alina Koenigs (Moenchengladbach, Germany) secured second place in the long jump with a leap of 4.85 m (15'11), and also took third in the triple jump (10.25 m, 33'7½).
The Jaspers' final competition before the New Year will be the Brother Jasper Invitational this weekend at Draddy Gymnasium. The meet gets underway at 11 a.m. on Friday and concludes on Saturday.
