Rider places well against TCNJ

By Victoria Lyons
The track and field team competed in a meet against TCNJ this past Sunday, with the men winning by seven points and the women losing by five.
The Rider men and women both had solid performances, according to Head Coach Bob Hamer.
“The main focus was to compete with effort, heart and pride, and the positive results will follow,” he said. “It was great for the men to win and disappointing for the women to lose, but we had a lot of great performances.”
Junior Christian Gonzalez placed first in the 1,000 meters, earning an IC4A qualifying time of 2:27.53. Junior John Clark won the weight throw with an IC4A qualifying distance of 16.8 meters and also threw 15.46 meters to win the shot put.
Freshman David Hightower placed second in the 55 meter hurdles, qualifying for the IC4As with a time of 7.61.
Freshmen Greg Wesh and John Hill took part in the 4 x 800 meter relay with Gonzalez and junior Michael Soroko. The relay team placed first with an IC4A qualifying time of 7:50.8.
Other winners for the Rider men consisted of freshman Jammar Lim, who placed first in the high jump at 1.93 meters, while freshman Perry Asare won the triple jump at 13.53 meters. Freshman Daequan Kim won the 200 meters, earning a time of 22.68, while Soroko placed first in the mile receiving a time of 4:18.62.
For the Rider women, senior Alicia Price placed first in the weight throw with an ECAC qualifying distance of 16.33 meters. She also threw 12.95 meters to win the shot put.
Freshman Caitlin Vanek placed first in the long jump at 5.3 meters as well as the triple jump at 10.98 meters.
“She has been ready to hit some big marks and hopefully this meet will give her the confidence to perform at a higher level on a consistent basis,” said Hamer.
The 1,000 meters was won by junior Chelsea Callan with a time of 2:59.75, while freshman Erin McMullin placed first in the 200 meters with a time of 26.06. Sophomore Heather Giovagnoli won the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:35.15.
“In some events we fell a little short, but it was not due to a lack of effort,” Hamer said.

The Rider men’s and women’s distance medley relays also competed at the New Balance Invitational at the Armory in New York City this past Friday where both relays set new Rider records.
For the Rider men, the distance medley relay placed first, earning an IC4A qualifying time of 9:57.37. The relay also broke Rider’s previously set record of 10:00.61, from 2008.
“Those were the goals that we had set going into the meet, so we were very happy with the results,” Hamer said.
The relay consisted of Gonzalez, Kim, sophomore David South and Soroko.
“The key to the relay was Chris Gonzalez’s lead-off leg that got things moving, and the rest of the guys followed his lead,” said Hamer.
The Rider women’s distance medley relay consisted of Giovagnoli, freshman Ashley Hunter, junior Johanna Clarke, and Callan. The women broke Rider’s previous record of 12:36.23, finishing at 12:10.12, but just missed qualifying for ECACs.
Next up, the men’s and women’s track and field teams compete against Lafayette at the Armory in New York City today.