STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Junior Zach Michon won the individual mile title, junior Trae' Robinson met IC4A qualification in the 500m, and the Hawks' 3000m group exploded for 21 points as the Saint Joseph's men's track and field squad won the team title at the Wagner College Invitational, held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Friday afternoon. The Hawks totaled 103 points, edging out Central Connecticut (97) and Rider (89.5) for the victory.
In his season debut, Michon crossed the finish line of the mile in 4:16.35 to claim the title in a field of 59. The performance marks Michon's first open mile win and first indoor track and field win of his collegiate career and fourth individual win overall, as he has won the outdoor 1500m twice and cross country 5k once.
Fellow junior John Walker finished just behind Michon in second, crushing his mile PR in 4:18.71 for the first sub-4:20.00 open mile of his collegiate career. The junior duo went 1-2 out of the first of five total sections for a combined 18 points.
Robinson dazzled in the 500m, crossing in a new collegiate-best time of 1:05.20 for second in a field of 29; that time marks Robinson's fastest in the event for both indoor and outdoor competition and hits the IC4A mark exactly.
Rookie Javier Linares also impressed in the 500m. In his first collegiate open event after debuting as the anchor on SJU's IC4A-qualifying 4x800m relay back at the Fastrack Metro Season Opener in early December, Linares crossed in 1:06.20 for third overall. Together, Robinson and Linares combined for 14 points.
The Hawks took four of the top six spots in the 3000m as seniors Will Sponaugle (2nd, 8:41.92 PR) and Jack Daly (3rd, 8:42.18 PR), freshman Ben Bunch (5th, 8:48.34 PR), and sophomore Matthew Scarpill (6th, 8:48.79) combined for 21 points.
Led by George Steinhoff, SJU's 800m trio took home 17 points. Coming off of a shining collegiate debut in the mile at the Fastrack Metro Season Opener, Steinhoff raced his first open 800m on Friday . . . and he did not disappoint. The redshirt freshman crossed in 1:55.45, less than a second off from the IC4A standard, to place third in a field of 45 and second among all collegiate runners.
Senior captain Dylan Eddinger (1:57.27) and freshman Aidan Sauer (1:57.58 PR) went fifth and sixth, respectively.
Junior captain Justin Moscoe (season-best 49.84) and freshman Michael Szwed (49.87 PR) went fourth and fifth, respectively, in a 400m field of 38; Moscoe took second in his heat while Szwed impressed with the only sub-50.00 performance out of the third heat in his collegiate debut in the event. Moscoe and Szwed were two of just five racers to go sub-50.00 on the day and combined for 11 points for the Crimson and Gray.
In their first collegiate 200m races, freshmen Michael Welde (22.53 PR) and Kris Edobi (22.67 PR) finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in a field of 49 to combine for seven points.
Numerous individual scorers also held their own on the relays as Saint Joseph's was the only program to put two 4x400m groups into the top five. Welde, Edobi, Robinson, and Szwed (3:21.63) and Moscoe, graduate student captain Barren McCoy, Linares, and senior Jake Wolfe (3:22.88) went third and fourth to turn in 11 points.
Freshman Jack Martin made his high jump debut, going for 5' 10 3/4" for a fifth-place, four-point performance.
Junior short sprint captain David Bryant, sophomore miler Bobby Hastie, and sophomore long jumper Vincent Giordano had notable performances outside of scoring efforts.
In his second 60m race of the season, Bryant led a quartet of Hawks in a season-best time of 7.24, good for 18th in a field of 48. Hastie finished ninth in his first collegiate mile appearance in 4:25.96, while Giordano had a breakthrough performance in the long jump, hitting a PR of 19' 10 1/4" (19th/24) to go above the 6.00m mark for the first time in his collegiate career.
Saint Joseph's returns to action at the Angry Birds Invitational next Saturday, January 12. Events are set to begin at 10:00 a.m. at Lehigh University's Rauch Fieldhouse.
