Outdoor Season Heats Up at Roadrunner Invitational

MAHWAH, N.J. – Led by five event winners, the Manhattan College men's outdoor track & field squad finished first in the team standings at Ramapo College's Roadrunner Invitational on Saturday.  The Jasper women, meanwhile, won two events and grabbed third in the team standings.

Leading the way for the men's squad was Killian Barry (Dublin, Ireland), who qualified for the IC4A Championships in the hammer throw.  Barry won the event, which was held on Friday night, with a distance of 54.33 meters (178 feet, three inches).  Manhattan took four of the first five places in the hammer throw, with Blerim Pocesta (Staten Island, N.Y.) finishing third (50.01 m, 164'1), Edward Brentnall (Atlanta, Ga.) taking fourth (49.48 m, 162'4) and Ian McGinnis (Philadelphia, Pa.) placing fifth (47.39 m, 155'6).

McGinnis also won the discus throw (48.48 m, 159'1) and took fifth in the shot put (14.04 m, 46'0¾), while Pocesta was third in the discus (44.90 m, 147'4).  Rokas Kirlys (Kamaji, Lithuania) captured first place in the shot put (15.09 m, 49'6¼) and also captured fourth place in the discus (44.70 m, 146'8).  Capping a great day for the Manhattan throwers, Phil Ragan (Belmar, N.J.) finished third in the javelin with a toss of 56.59 m (185'8).

Brian McGovern (Yonkers, N.Y.) cleared 5.00 m (16'4¾) to win the pole vault competition, while Yardley Keshinover (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) took fourth with a leap of 4.00 m (13'1½).  The Jaspers also got a pair of second-place finishes from Tom Bechert (Munich, Germany) in the high jump (2.00 m, 6'6¾) and Trevell Moxey (Lansdale, Pa.) in the triple jump (13.90 m, 45'7¼).

Manhattan also earned a first-place finish on the track, as Greg Perrier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) captured the 800 meters in a time of 1:53.24.  In the 1500 meters, Mikael Rojeras (Sala, Sweden) finished second in 3:56.75, while Sheldon Derenoncourt (Patchogue, N.Y.) grabbed fourth place in the 400 meters (50.18).  Derenoncourt was also a member of both the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay squads.  The 4x400 team, which also included Tyrek Barney (Hempstead, N.Y.), Joe Martello (Amawalk, N.J.) and Jaylen Henderson (Brooklyn, N.Y.), took second place in 3:19.26, while the 4x100 quartet of Barney, Derenoncourt, Abdias Myrtil (Wheatley Heights, N.Y.) and Ferguson Amo (Philadelphia, Pa.) took fourth in a time of 43.22 seconds.

The Jaspers were credited with 160.50 points in the team standings, easily outdistancing second-place Temple (108).  On the women's side, just seven points separated first-place Ramapo (110.5) and third-place Manhattan (103.5).  Temple's women also finished second, collecting 109 points.

Alina Koenigs (Moenchengladbach, Germany) finished eighth or better in four different events.  She won the shot put with a toss of 11.91 m (39'1), and her triple jump of 11.28 m (37'0¼) was good for second place.  Koenigs also placed fifth in the long jump (5.28 m, 17'4) and eighth in the hammer throw (32.65 m, 107'1).  In the pole vault, Melissa Yap (Orchard Park, N.Y.) cleared 3.20 m (10'6) to take second place.

On the track, Milena Stoicev (Nis, Serbia) captured first place in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:40.05.  Alexandra Cappello (Scarsdale, N.Y.) took second in the 5000 meters (18:52.09), while Ashley Bowman (Elmont, N.Y.) placed second in the 100 meters (12.12).  In addition, the Jaspers got third-place showings from Cara Rostant (Valley Stream, N.Y.) in the 200 meters (25.50) and Doreen Horschig (Lumpzig, Germany) in the 100 meter hurdles (14.53).  Horschig was also fifth in the high jump, clearing 1.53 m (5'0¼).