Jan. 5, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa./NEWARK, Del. - The Saint Joseph's men's track team competed at both the Penn State Relays and Delaware Invitational on January 4 and 5.
PENN STATE RELAYS - Complete Results
The Penn State Relays were held this afternoon, January 5, on the course of the Ashenfelter III Indoor Track at State College, Pa. Saint Joseph's competed against host Penn State, Maryland-Baltimore County, Norfolk State, Pittsburgh, Robert Morris, and St. Francis (Pa.).
Highlighted by first-place finishes in the mile, 500m dash, 1000m run, 3000m run, and 4x100m relay, SJU saw 24 Hawks finish in the top ten of nine events.
For the second consecutive meet, graduate student Kevin McDonnell won his event, this time the mile. With a time of 4:14.44, McDonnell demolished his previous personal-best time in the event by an astounding 16.54 seconds and set a new Penn State Relays meet record, crushing the previous record (4:15.51) by over one second.
Junior Aaron Leskow also beat the meet record, clocking in with a new personal-best 4:14.93, good for second place. Junior Tommy O'Kane (4:16.46 PR), sophomore Logan Mohn (season-best 4:18.78), junior Mike Rankin (season-best 4:29.05), freshman Quinn Davis (4:34.27), and sophomore Brady Deckert (4:35.48 PR) rounded out the top ten for the Hawks.
Sophomore Tyler Gallen won the 500m dash in a season-best 1:04.77 to lead six additional Hawks to top-ten finishes. The time stands as the fastest SJU time of the early season in the event. Junior Griff Roberts (1:05.02 PR), senior captain Garrett Barbalinardo (season-best 1:05.44), and sophomore Matthew McGarvey (season-best 1:05.88) all finished within one second of one another to take second, third, and fourth place, respectively. Sophomore James Gentile took sixth place (1:07.37 PR) while classmate Brendan Robert (season-best 1:08.16) and freshman Ryan Vance (1:08.38 PR) rounded out the top ten with respective ninth- and tenth-place finishes.
Sophomore Steven Butenewicz won the 1000m run with a season-best time of 2:34.41 while senior captain Andrew Townsend (2:35.69) and classmate Dave Manion (2:36.32) took home the silver and bronze, respectively.
Sophomore Paul Szulewski won the 3000m with a season-best time of 8:33.64 while graduate student Dan Roark just missed the top three with a season-best time of 8:46.61, good for fourth place.
Szulewski brought home yet another gold as the starting leg of the 4x100m relay team with Rankin, Roark, and Deckert. The quartet clocked in at a personal-best 18:19.00 to become the first to compete in the event for the Hawks at this point in the early season.
For the first time in his career, junior Jonathan Eisemann broke the seven-second barrier to clock in at 6.97 in the 60m dash. His new personal-best time was good for a fourth-place finish and just 0.20 seconds away from a new school record.
Eisemann continued his streak into the 200m dash as he placed ninth (season-best 22.53). Freshman Christopher Banks made his collegiate debut with a 10th-place finish (22.70*).
The 4x400m relay team of Eisemann, Banks, and juniors Tyler Dougherty and Derrick Henry (3:19.40) took fourth while Gallen, Robert, McGarvey, and Roberts (3:19.53) finished just behind in fifth.
Freshman standout Alec Peabody finished fourth in the long jump with a final mark of 6.78m (22' 3").
DELAWARE INVITATIONAL -
Complete Results
The Delaware Invitational took place at the University of Delaware's Field House on January 4. Saint Joseph's competed against host University of Delaware, Coppin State, and Maryland in the four-team meet.
SJU won six events, including the 60m dash, 400m dash, 500m run, 800m run, mile, and 4x400m run.
Junior Michael Yap placed twice on the day, taking the 60m dash in a new personal-best 7.24 and placing second in the long jump (5.85m, 19' 2 1/2").
Sophomore David Furman ran a season-best 53.22 to win the 400m dash while classmates Nick Beninato (season-best 53.34) and Nick Pedano (53.49 PR) checked in with second- and third-place finishes, respectively.
Junior Peter Larmann won the 500m run with a new personal-best time in the event, clocking in at 1:08.17 while classmate Christopher Kinney placed second (1:12.51 PR) in his first time running the event.
Freshman Liam Murphy's breakthrough performance earned him a gold medal in the 800m run as he checked in at 2:05.36 in just his second collegiate race. The rookie has already improved on his previous personal best in the event by 1.55 seconds. Junior Ryan Anderson came in second with a season-best 2:08.58.
In his first collegiate race, freshman Michael Coleman won the mile with a time of 4.33.14. Also in his collegiate debut, classmate John Egan took third in the 3000m run with a time of 9:40.31.
The 4x400m relay team of Furman, Beninato, Larmann, and Kinney won the event in 3:31.59.
Rounding out all Hawks who finished in the top three of their events, senior Vinh Nghi To placed second in the triple jump (12.03m, 39' 5 3/4") and third in the long jump (5.70m, 19').
Saint Joseph's will return to action this Friday, January 11, at the Gotham Cup in New York, N.Y. Start time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at the New Balance Track & Field Center.
