Complete Results
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Manhattan College men's and women's track & field teams kicked off the outdoor season with their annual trip to the Baldy Castillo Invitational at Arizona State's Sun Angel Stadium on Saturday. The Jaspers turned in strong performances in a number of events, led by seven qualifiers for the ECAC/IC4A Championships.
The Jaspers got off to a good start in the men's hammer throw on Friday, as Anastas Papazov (Balchik, Bulgaria) had the eighth-best effort in program history. With a mark of 64.63 meters (212 feet), Papazov automatically qualified for both the IC4A Championships and NCAA East Regional, as well as the next edition of the European Under-23 Championships. Edward Brentnall (Atlanta, Ga.) also bettered the IC4A standard with a 53.82 m (176'7) effort that also qualified him for the U.S. Junior Championships.
Manhattan also had two IC4A qualifiers in the men's discus. Colin Quirke (Los Gatos, Calif.), who was an All-American in the discus in 2011, earned a return trip to the NCAA East Regional with a mark of 54.40 m (178'6). Roman Ewald (Olching, Germany) also qualified for the IC4A Championships, recording a best effort of 48.50 m (50'4). Quirke finished second overall, while Ewald placed sixth.
Also qualifying for the IC4A Championships was Albert Johnson III (Painted Post, N.Y.) in the long jump. Johnson took second place with a leap of 7.62 m (25'0), just 2½ inches behind the winner. Brian McGovern (Yonkers, N.Y.) tied for second in the pole vault (4.70 m, 15'5), and Rokas Kirlys (Kamaji, Lithuania) grabbed fourth place in the shot put (15.89 m, 52'1¾). On the track, Greg Perrier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) finished fifth in the 800 meters in a time of 1:52.51, while Sheldon Derenoncourt (Patchogue, N.Y.) took sixth in the 400 meters (48.75).
Leading the way for the women's team was Cara Rostant (Valley Stream, N.Y.), who ran a personal-best time of 24.27 seconds in the 200 meters. Rostant qualified for the ECAC Championships with that effort. She also joined with Ashley Bowman (Elmont, N.Y.), Heidy Palacios (Yonkers, N.Y.) and Andrea Nyback (Koping, Sweden) to post an ECAC-qualifying mark of 47.26 seconds in the 4 x 100 meter relay. Palacios also took sixth in the 400 meters (56.95), while Bowman was seventh in the 100 meters (12.33).
Doreen Horschig (Lumpzig, Germany) was fifth in the high jump (1.60 m, 5'3) and eighth in the 100 meter hurdles (14.76), and Karolin Wagner (Ribbesbuettel, Germany) had best effort of 3.25 m (10'8) in the pole vault.
After taking next weekend off, the Jaspers will be back in action on March 30-31, when they head to West Point, N.Y. for the Dick Shea Invitational.
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