At the Mercer County Dual Meets against Rider University on Sunday, the men's team was led to believe they grabbed a 94-91 victory over Rider, but a scoring error made the official score say otherwise. The error came when the men's relay team's score was counted twice, a 3-point margin, which ultimately decided the fate of the meet and left the official final score at 92-91 in Rider's favor.
The team had yet to find out about the error and their subsequent loss at the time of the interview with head coach Eric Mobley, but he was resolute when speaking about the team's demeanor on the reception of the news. "I think (the team) will be a little disappointed because of the score, but I don't think we could've had a better meet on that given day," he said.
Despite the scoring error and the disappointing loss, Mobley was his usual, optimistic self, refusing to point any fingers or place the blame on anyone. "They definitely shouldn't hang their heads," he said. "There is nobody on that team that I could point to and say, 'You cost us this meet.'"
The women's team had reason to cheer, however, as they put together an impressive performance en route to a 98-77 victory over Rider. Mobley acknowledged that this was a statement meet for the women as far as what they could really do as a team.
The coach was reluctant to name any stand-out performers for the women, however. Instead, he noted how much of an overall team effort the meet was and deservedly so. The Lions won 12 out of 18 events on the day. Astounding team performances aside, senior and 16-time track All-American Brittny Boyd won the 200-meter in 25.93 and took second in the 55-meter at 7.47, both marks qualifying for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). On the day, both Lion teams nabbed, collectively, five NCAA Division III and 17 ECAC Championship qualifying marks.
The Lions also competed in the New York Armory Collegiate Track Meet on Saturday, grabbing NCAA qualifying times and breaking school records in the process.
The women's team finished third in the college section distance medley relay with a time of 12:07.56, earning an NCAA qualifying time and breaking the old-school record by nearly 12 seconds. On the other end of the spectrum, the men's team won the college section of the race for the second straight year and qualified for the NCAA's.
Overall, the College's track teams had a solid weekend, but were the performances marred by the scoring error and one-point loss to Rider? Not according to Mobley. "I wish that we would've pulled out the victory ... but it was still one of the best performances I've had the pleasure of being a part of," he said.
The Lions will return to action on Friday when they travel to Boston University to compete in the St. Valentine's Classic.
