PHILADELPHIA - On Friday evening, Saint Joseph's Sprint Medley Relay group of sophomore David Bryant, senior Kenny Evely, senior David Henderson, and senior Steve Thompson shattered SJU's 20-year-old record in the event to highlight the Saint Joseph's men's track and field squad's performances at the 2018 Penn Relays, held at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field this Thursday through Saturday. Of additional note, SJU's 4x200m relay qualified for Saturday's Eastern Finals.
Bryant, Evely, Henderson (~46.7), and Thompson (~1:49.1) took down the school record in the Sprint Medley Relay by 3.05 seconds, at 3:19.88. The performance was good for sixth in a field of 32 in the Championship of America Invitational as the Hawks defeated South Carolina, UTech, and Indiana for the top-six finish. The previous SJU record was held by S. Magee, C. Kant, D. Polis, and P. Noctio (3:22.93) and set in 1998.
On Saturday afternoon, Saint Joseph's 4x200m relay of Bryant, freshman Sebastian Eaton, Henderson, and Evely checked in with a season-best time of 1:27.41, good for second in the five-team field of the Eastern Finals.
The same group had finished in 1:27.78 on Friday afternoon to advance out of the preliminary rounds as the 15th-fastest time in the field of 31; notably, Bryant, Henderson, and Evely turned around to run that record-breaking SMR less than five hours later.
SJU's additional performance of note came from the 4x800m relay of Thompson (1:51.32), senior Dan Ferraiolo (1:51.24), junior Dylan Eddinger (1:52.87), and junior Rory Houston (1:53.10), who put together a season-best time of 7:28.52 for 10th in a field of 12 and just under three seconds off from the school record. The time will stand as the Hawks' new seed time for the IC4A Outdoor Track and Field Championships as the veteran group improved upon SJU's previous season-best time in the event by nearly 20 seconds.
On Friday afternoon, Saint Joseph's Distance Medley Relay of senior Dave Garton (3:07.84), sophomore Justin Moscoe (49.81), freshman Stephen McClellan (1:54.00), and sophomore Zach Michon (4:07.78) ran SJU's first sub-10:00 DMR of the season, crossing in 9:59.40. The performance was good for seventh in a field of 17 groups in the college division.
On Friday evening, Saint Joseph's 4x400m relay of Eaton, sophomore Trae' Robinson, Moscoe, and senior Barren McCoy crossed in 3:21.42 for 45th in a field of 63 in the preliminary heats.
In the "Distance Night" portion of the program on Thursday evening, graduate student Dan Savage ran the 3000m steeplechase in a season-best time of 9:17.94, good for 11th in his section and 24th in an overall field of 35.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Sophomore John Walker met IC4A qualification in the 1500m to lead the Saint Joseph's men's track and field squad at the unscored Lehigh Games, hosted at Lehigh University's Goodman Track and Field Complex on Saturday.
Walker dropped a collegiate-best 1500m time of 3:56.08 to place second in a field of 45. The performance marked his first sub-1500m time of the spring.
Junior Markell Lodge also turned in a second-place finish, posting a season-best high jump mark of 6" 4 3/4" (1.95m) for the runner-up finish in the field of six.
SJU's 4x400m relay of senior Barren McCoy, freshman Joshua Richard, sophomore Colin Parker, and sophomore Joey Angelina crossed in 3:30.58, good for second in a field of five.
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Saint Joseph's heads to the 2018 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track and Field Championships next Saturday, May 5 and Sunday, May 6. Line-ups will be made available in the upcoming week at SJUHawks.com.
