NEW YORK - Brian McGovern (Yonkers, N.Y.) set a Manhattan College and Irish under-23 national record in the men's pole vault on Thursday. He cleared 5.22 meters (17 feet, 1½ inches) at the Armory Collegiate Challenge from the New Balance Armory Track & Field Center, breaking his own mark of 5.15 m (16'10¾) set at last year's IC4A Indoor Championships.
McGovern's record-breaking performance was the highlight of a successful competition for the Jaspers. In the men's shot put, Colin Quirke (Los Gatos, Calif.) placed second with a throw of 17.09 m (56'1). Sheldon Derenoncourt (Patchogue, N.Y.) ran a personal-best time of 49.52 seconds to capture seventh place in the 400 meters. In the men's 1000 meters, Anthony Colasurdo (Lankoa Harbor, N.J.) was sixth in 2:33.22.
In the women's 200 meters, Ashley Bowman (Elmont, N.Y.) finished just shy of qualifying for the ECAC Championships with a third-place time of 25.15 seconds. Maria Jangsten (Gothenburg, Sweden) placed fourth in the women's 1000 (2:56.29), while Melissa Yap (Orchard Park, N.Y.) cleared 3.20 m (10'6) to take sixth in the women's pole vault.
Manhattan has qualified 17 athletes (13 men, four women) and three relay teams for next weekend's ECAC/IC4A Indoor Championships. McGovern is the defending IC4A champion in the men's pole vault.
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