Complete Results
NEW YORK – The Manhattan College men's track & field team finished second at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Indoor Championships from the New Balance Armory Track & Field Center on Saturday night. The women's squad ended up just six points out of second, taking fourth place overall. In addition, the Jaspers' Blerim Pocesta (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Marisa Robbins (Goshen, N.Y.) both earned Most Outstanding Performer for Field Events recognition.
Pocesta took first in the men's weight throw and fourth in the shot put, while Robbins set a school and meet record in the women's pole vault.
In the men's weight throw, Pocesta led a 1-2-7 showing for the Jaspers. His best effort of 19.31 meters (63 feet, 4¼ inches) was one centimeter better than teammate Love Litzell's (Ostersund, Sweden) second-place mark. Killian Barry (Dublin, Ireland), meanwhile, took seventh with a toss of 17.13 m (56'2½). Pocesta then got out to a career-best 16.10 m (52'10) in the shot put, which was good enough for fourth place.
Manhattan grabbed two other field event victories on the men's side. Savio Paul (Yonkers, N.Y.) cleared 4.90 m (16'0¾) to claim the gold medal in the pole vault, while Clement Gicquel (Rennes, France) won the high jump with a leap of 2.07 m (6'9½).
Sheldon Derenoncourt (Patchogue, N.Y.) posted a time of 48.57 seconds in the 400 meters, breaking the previous meet record, but ended up second behind Monmouth's Ben Boyd. Derenoncort also ran the leadoff leg on Manhattan's 4x400 meter relay squad, which finished second in 3:17.68. Greg Perrier (Dix Hills, N.Y.), the anchor leg in the 4x400, placed third in the 800 with a 1:51.13 clocking, and Will Stallings (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) finished third in the 200 meters (22.13).
Bobby Gebhard (Saddle River, N.J.), meanwhile, grabbed second place in the triple jump (15.10 m, 49'6½) and sixth in the long jump (6.78 m, 22'3). Hayden Clarke (Townsville, Australia) was third in the long jump with a leap of 6.96 m (22'10).
As a team, the Jasper men collected 126 points, 36 clear of third-place Iona. Monmouth secured its second consecutive MAAC title with a total of 220 points.
On the women's side, Manhattan, Rider and Quinnipiac engaged in a great three-way battle for second place behind Monmouth. The Jaspers finished with 99.5 points, while Quinnipiac was third with 104 and second-place Rider ended up with 105.5 points. Monmouth's winning total was 166.5 points.
Robbins won the pole vault by more than a foot, establishing a new program and meet record of 3.81 m (12'6) on her first attempt at the height. Maddesen Weekes (Clifton Park, N.Y.) grabbed third place in the event with a leap of 3.45 m (11'3¾). Lydia Wehrli (Anieres, Switzerland) won the weight throw with a toss of 17.86 m (58'7¼), and Katharina Klien (Maeder, Austria) was second in the shot put (12.91 m, 42'4¼).
Doreen Horschig (Lumpzig, Germany) just missed the meet record in the 60 meter hurdles. Her winning time of 8.63 seconds, which qualified for the ECAC Championships, was just 0.01 off the championship mark. Horschig also took second in the long jump with a leap of 5.68 m (18'7¾). Charlene Pohl (Bisingen, Germany) placed third in the long jump (5.55 m, 18'2½) to go along with a sixth-place showing in the high jump (1.60 m, 5'3).
Paige Chapman (Abingdon, Md.) and Quinnipiac's Shameal Samuels were credited with an identical time of 7.66 seconds in the 60 meters. After reviewing the photo finish, Samuels was declared the winner, with Chapman in second. She then took fourth in the 200 meters with a 25.94-second clocking. Champan's teammate Kathy Cadet (Endicott, N.Y.) claimed the silver medal in the 200, posting a time of 25.85 seconds. Cadet later took fourth in the 400 meters (58.11) and was a member of the 4x400 meter relay team that grabbed second place with a time of 3:57.38.
The MAAC All-Academic Team was also announced on Saturday. Eleven men and nine women were honored for their success in the classroom. Barry, Clarke, Litzell, Paul, Nick Adamo (Franklin Square, N.Y.), Jacob Adams (Yonkers, N.Y.), Dennis Eriksson (Sundsvall, Sweden), Stefan Hoeller (Bergisch Gladbach, Germany), Abdias Myrtil (Wheatley Heights, N.Y.), Kevin O'Brien (Attleboro, Mass.) and Neil Pinnock (Yonkers, N.Y.) were recognized on the men's side, while Horschig, Klien, Wehrli, Lina Bengtson (Malmo, Sweden), Breanna Brucher (Glen Spey, N.Y.), Alina Koenigs (Moenchengladbach, Germany), Nicole Mainente (Shirley, N.Y.), Janie Turek (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) and Alyssa Windle (Redlands, Calif.) earned the nod for the women's team. To qualify for the MAAC All-Academic Team, student-athletes must have completed at least two semesters at their institution and boast a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or higher.
