Complete Results
NEW YORK – The annual Metropolitan Indoor Championships were held on Friday at the New Balance Armory Track & Field Center, and the Manhattan College men's squad took third place in the team standings. The Jasper women, meanwhile, captured fifth place as a team.
Competition got underway with a handful of events at Draddy Gymnasium on Thursday. Marisa Robbins (Goshen, N.Y.) placed second in the women's pole vault with a leap of 3.45 meters (11 feet, 3¾ inches). The weight throw also took place on Thursday, and Manhattan finished third on both the men's and women's side. Blerim Pocesta (Staten Island, N.Y.) grabbed third in the men's weight throw (17.63 m, 57'10¼), while Lydia Wehrli (Anieres, Switzerland) won the bronze in the women's event (16.56 m, 54'4).
Manhattan's success continued once the meet shifted to the Armory on Friday. Bianca Marten (Waiblingen, Germany) led the way for the women's team by taking first place in the triple jump (11.79 m, 38'8¼), second in the long jump (5.67 m, 18'7¼), and third in the 60 meter hurdles (8.94). Ida Virdebrant (Nobbele, Sweden) cleared 1.65 m (5'5) to win the women's high jump, and Lina Bengtson (Malmo, Sweden) won the women's shot put with a toss of 12.84 m (42'1½).
On the track, the Jasper women placed second in the 4x800 meter relay, as Alexandra Cappello (Scarsdale, N.Y.), Mary Kate Dooley (Red Bank, N.J.), Meghan Hayes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Elizabeth Rosenberger (Ramsey, N.J.) recorded a time of 9:27.31. Janie Turek (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.), meanwhile, captured eighth place in the open 800 meters (2:18.11).
In the men's high jump, Mohamed Koita (Cergy, France) was victorious with a clearance at 2.09 m (6'10¼). The Jaspers also earned the win in the men's long jump, as Hayden Clarke (Townsville, Australia) leaped 7.12 m (23'4½).
Mikael Rojeras (Sala, Sweden), meanwhile, won the 1000 meters in a time of 2:28.39, and Greg Perrier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) was second in the 800 meters (1:55.14). Tom Voorheis (Syracuse, N.Y.) added a bronze medal in the 5000 meters (14:58.49). The Jaspers also showed their strength in the sprints. Sheldon Derenoncourt (Patchogue, N.Y.) finished third in the 500 meters (1:04.69), and Manhattan went 3-4 in the 200 meters. Anthony Hall (Mountainville, N.Y.) placed third (22.37), while Abdias Myrtil's (Wheatley Heights, N.Y.) fourth-place time was 22.42 seconds.
The Jasper men ended up with 119.5 points in the team standings, just four points behind second-place Rutgers and 14 points fewer than Southern Connecticut State, the Metropolitan champions. The women's competition was just as close, as Manhattan's 80 points were a mere three shy of Southern Connecticut State for fourth place as a team. Rutgers captured the women's title with 163 points.
Manhattan will split the team next weekend. Some Jaspers will return to the New Balance Armory Track & Field Center for the Armory Collegiate Invitational, one of the premier meets of the season, while others will head to the Giegengack Invitational at Yale and Boston University's St. Valentine Invitational.
