College Track and Field
Rider at TCNJ Invitational / Penn Relays

EWING/PHILADELPHIA, Pa.--The Rider men's and women's outdoor track and field teams competed at the TCNJ Invitational Saturday with several members of the teams finishing up competition at the 118th Penn Relays in Philadelphia.

For the Rider women at TCNJ, junior Mia Riley (West Caldwell/James Caldwell) won the 100 meter dash (12.23) and was fourth in the 200 meter dash (25.40), junior Ashley Hunter (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) won the 400 meter hurdles (1:04.41) and was 11th in the 100 meter hurdles (15.68) and sophomore Rhea Phipps (Basking Ridge/Ridge) won the hammer throw (48.02m).

"Our key performers are performing well on the women's side," said head coach Bob Hamer.  "We don't have as much depth as we would like but they are performing their best when it matters most.  The women have confidence and are doing a great job."

For the Rider men at TCNJ, sophomore Steven Brown (Penns Grove) won the triple jump (14.34m), junior David Hightower (Easton, Pa./Easton) was runner-up in the 110 meter hurdles with an IC4A qualifying time of 14.69, sophomore George Osti (Union) was second in the hammer (49.20m) and ninth in the shot put (12.89m), junior James Burroughs (West Orange) was second in the 400 meter hurdles with an IC4A qualifying time of 53.78, sophomore Corey O'Neill (Old Bridge) was second in the 3000 meter steeplechase (9:40.92), junior Perry Asare (Lindenwold) was second in the long jump (6.73m), sophomore Matthew Millemann (Hillsborough) was third in the 400 meter hurdles (54.68), senior Adam Haun (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South) was third in the long jump (6.46m) and freshman George Solujich (East Windsor/Notre Dame) was third in the shot put (14.73m) and fourth in the discus (46.50m).

"We were hoping for a few more and better individual performances," said Hamer.  "Steven, David and James are starting to hit their form, which is great and we are trying to finalize things with the rest of the team as we reach the MAAC championships this weekend.  As a team, sometimes you look poor one week and pull it back together the next weekend and we are hoping that is the case."

Also for the Rider women at TCNJ, freshman Emily Ritter (Millsboro, Del./Sussex Tech) was second in the 1500 meter (4:46.04), sophomore Treasure Burke (Pennsauken/Camden Catholic) placed third in the hammer throw (44.71m), freshman Taylor Harmon (Robbinsville) was third in the high jump (1.61m), sophomore Lauryn Strebeck (Dayton/South Brunswick)  was third in the triple jump (10.99m) and freshman Ashley Edwards (Westfield) was fifth in the 400 meter dash (59.69).

Also for the Rider men at TCNJ, freshman Andrew Pozo (Forked River/Toms River HS South) was fourth in the hammer (46.02m), fifth in the shot put (13.70m) and fifth in the discus (42.70m), freshman Jonathan Galya (Freehold,/Freehold Township) was fourth in the high jump (1.95m), junior Greg Smith (Milford/Delaware Valley) was fifth in the long jump (6.32m) and fifth in the triple jump (13.14m), senior Ron Moore (Nashville, Tenn./John Overton) was fifth in the 400 meter hurdles (54.72), sophomore Nick Weiss (Nanuet, N.Y./Nanuet) was fifth in the hammer (42.27m), sophomore Quintin Robin (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks East) was seventh in the pole vault (4.20m), sophomore Billy Hackmeister (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) placed seventh in the 1500 meter, freshman Nick Bencivenga (Edison/J.P. Stevens) was eighth in the 1500 meter (4:06.88), freshman Michael Breen (Hazlet/Raritan) placed eighth in the 400 meter hurdles (55.69), freshman Joe Vicini (Millstone/Notre Dame) placed ninth in the hammer (35.06m) and sophomore Wilvenson Baptiste (Irvington) was 10th in the 100 meter dash (11.18).

Other women's results for Rider at TCNJ included junior Krista Musinski (West Pittston, Pa./Wyoming Area Secondary) finishing sixth in the triple jump (10.70m), freshman Sydney Grimes (West Orange) placing seventh in the hammer throw (41.64m), freshman Nitessa Brooks (Somerset/Franklin) finishing seventh in the shot put (11.73m), junior Jillian Shutt (Lawrenceville, Pa./Williamson) placing eighth in the 1500 meter (4:51.74) and sophomore Jeana Sabatini (Levittown, Pa./Conwell-Egan)  finishing 10th in the triple jump (10.22m).

At Penn in the women's 4x800, the Rider team of junior Megan Elgin (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East), senior Kristen Perrine (Brick/Brick Memorial), senior Heather Giovagnoli (Royersford, Pa./Spring Ford) and sophomore Gabrielle Randell (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick) was 17th with a time of 9:17.45.

"The women ran well at Penn," said Hamer.  "It was a good effort and they were competitive.  We were only a second off the ECAC standard and we were hoping to reach that mark this weekend.  I was happy with their effort."

At Penn, in the men's 4x800, the Rider team of sophomore Joseph Carlin (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Tech.), senior David South (Sergeantsville/Hunterdon Central), junior Greg Wesh (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and freshman Nasser Zayer (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) placed 25th with a time of 7:55.68.

On the men's side, the 4x800 was disappointing," Hamer said.  "We did not do a good job.  I'm hopeful it was a bad day and that we can pull things back together this coming weekend.  At this level (Penn Relays), you have to be really, really good and if not, you get exposed.  We weren't ready to go and that showed up really quick."

Rider hosts the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field championships May 5-6 in Lawrenceville.  The Bronc men are the defending MAAC Outdoor champions.

-RU-