PRINCETON, N.J. – Seniors David Henderson and Kenny Evely met IC4A-qualifying marks in a pair of events to lead the Saint Joseph's men's track and field squad at the unscored 2018 Larry Ellis Invitational, held at Princeton's Weaver Stadium this Friday through Saturday. In all, five individual Hawks and SJU's 4x400m relay hit IC4A standards.
Henderson and Evely bookended the 4x400m relay that included sophomore second leg Trae' Robinson and sophomore third leg Justin Moscoe to the Hawks' fastest 4x400m relay time of the season in 3:16.77, for fourth in a field of 14, to meet IC4A qualification in the event.
Henderson also dropped an open 200m time of 21.93 (IC4A), just .01 seconds off from his PR, to place 11th in a field of 35 while Evely posted an open 400m PR and IC4A-qualifying time of 48.94, just the second sub-49.00 open 400m of his career and the first since the 2016 Larry Ellis Invitational, to win his section en route to a 10th-place finish in a field of 39.
Freshman Stephen McClellan ran a collegiate-best, IC4A-qualifying 800m time of 1:53.87 to place fourth in a field of 47 and second among all collegiate racers, only behind Navy's Nicholas Williams (1:53.87).
Sophomore Zach Michon ran 3:53.29 (IC4A) for 1500m to place 15th in a field of 57 in the top 1500m group while classmate Christian Roberts went sub-4:00 for 1500m (3:58.90 PR) for the first time in his collegiate career to finish 12th in a field of 50 out of the second group.
Senior Steve Thompson ran 1:53.65 (IC4A) for 800m to place 30th out of the event's top group while junior Justin Branco turned in a 24th-place finish in the 3000m steeplechase in a field of 38 in 9:24.65, just missing IC4A qualification in the event.
Also of note, junior Rory Houston turned in a ninth-place showing in the 800m with an improved collegiate-best time of 1:54.57.
CHESTER, Pa. - Junior high jumper Markell Lodge and sophomore short sprinter David Bryant scored in their events to lead the Saint Joseph's men's track and field squad to a 16th-place finish in a field of 24 college teams at the 2018 Widener Invitational, held at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium this Friday through Saturday. The Hawks accumulated 6.5 points on the weekend.
Lodge set a new season-best mark in the high jump (6' 4 3/4” PR) to tie for fourth in a field of 27 en route to 4.5 points for the Crimson and Gray.
Lodge added a season-best long jump mark of 19' 0” and ran his first collegiate 100m for 11.56.
Bryant cruised to new PRs in both the 100m (11.20) and 200m (22.57); the sophomore earned a ninth-place finish in a field of 80 in the 200m to earn SJU's other two points on the weekend and added an 11th-place showing in a 100m field of 76.
Also of note, Saint Joseph's 4x400m relay of senior Barren McCoy, sophomore John Walker, freshman Joshua Richard, and sophomore Joey Angelina (9th, 3:28.48) and 5000m racer Anthony Morelli (11th/108, 15:15.69) just missed scoring out of their respective events by one place each.
NOTE: Racing unattached to preserve outdoor eligibility, senior Collin Crilly won the 1500m in 3:53.59; his fastest official collegiate time in the event is 3:53.82.
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The Hawks will celebrate the 2017-18 with their annual team banquet this Sunday, April 22.
Saint Joseph's will return to competition at the Penn Relays this Thursday, April 26 through Saturday, April 28 at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field. Select Hawks will also race the Lehigh Games at Lehigh University's Goodman Track and Field Complex in Bethlehem, Pa. on Saturday, April 28.
