STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The Saint Joseph's men's track and field squad claimed the 4x400m relay title and rookie Michael Welde stood out in the sprints as the Crimson and Gray raced the Fastrack National Invitational, held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Friday. The meet served as one of the final opportunities for both individual and relay Hawks to qualify for the upcoming IC4A Indoor Track and Field Championships in early March.
The group of junior captain Justin Moscoe and freshmen Kris Edobi, Welde, and Javier Linares turned in a time of 3:20.59 to win the event in a field of 11 total relays, and more closely over runner-up East Stroudsburg (3:20.78) and third-place Kutztown (3:20.97). The time was less than a second off from IC4A qualification.
Welde also tore down his season-best 200m time earlier in the day with an improved 22.34, good for fourth overall in a field of 91 short sprinters. Welde won his heat over GSTC New Balance's Jonathan Ramirez (22.70), Zenith Velocity ACs Kervin Morgan (23.16), and Adelphi's Mac Bailey (25.90) en route to the fourth-place spot.
The time marks his first sub-22.40 performance of the season and is just a tenth of a second off from IC4A qualification.
Edobi (50.47) and Linares (50.49) also went 16th and 17th in the 400m invitational section field of 23 before racing the second and fourth legs, respectively, on the championship relay.
An additional trio of veterans in addition to an 800m rookie turned in mentionable performances in the invitational sections of their open events.
Senior captain Rory Houston went second in his group to place 12th in a field of 31 in the 800m, crossing in 1:55.46. Freshman Aidan Sauer followed up in 21st (1:57.13 PR).
Senior Will Sponaugle ran the 3000m in 8:31.77, placing 16th in a field of 31 to just miss IC4A qualification in the event by 3.77 seconds.
Junior captain David Bryant ran the 200m in 22.59 for 21st in a field of 25 to close out the invitational coverage and also covered the 60m in 7.16 for 27th in a field of 86.
Freshman Zach Smith finished as the top collegiately-attached miler, clocking in at 4:20.07 for second overall in a field of 42. Smith finished just 2.37 seconds behind John Fredian, racing unattached for Villanova, in the same heat.
The rookie has improved on his mile time consistently this season, opening with a 4:37.74 at the Wagner College Invitational (Ocean Breeze) back on January 4 and getting that down to 4:29.09 and 4:28.36 (last weekend) before Friday's PR. The time was just under six seconds off from IC4A qualification in the event.
Sophomore Joshua Richard finished as the top Division I runner in the 800m with a collegiate-best time of 1:57.62, good for second overall in a field of 57. Richard finished within a second of Georgian Court's Chukwue Anuamadi (1:56.81) and was just over three seconds off from IC4A qualification in the event.
Graduate student Anthony Morelli ran his first sub-9:00 3000m race of the season, clocking in with a time of 8:46.93 to place fourth in a field of 50. The performance marked the second-fastest 3k race of his indoor career and fastest since his PR (8:41.74) back at Yale in February '16.
Junior Antonio Amaral also fared well in the 3000m with a time of 8:50.24, going under nine minutes for the first time in his collegiate career for seventh overall.
Freshman Kyle Magee led a quartet of Hawks in the 400m, finishing in a collegiate-best time of 51.05 for 16th in a field of 75.
Select Hawks will return to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex next Friday, February 15 for the Fastrack Last Chance Invitational. The meet will provide one more regular-season opportunity to meet IC4A qualification and will begin at 4:00 p.m.
The 2019 Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships will follow from February 23-24, while IC4As will run from March 1-3.
