The College was off to a fast start at the 12th Annual Monmouth University Season Opener as the outdoor track & field season began on Saturday.
Senior Angela Tecco led the way for the Lions, as she finished two races with Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) qualifying times. Tecco completed a fifth-place finish in the 800 meters with a time of 2:20.88, as well as ninth place in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:45.40.
Freshman Kristen Tricocci also had double duty, as she recorded seventh place in the long jump at 5.10 meters. In her other event, Tricocci competed alongside fellow freshmen Priscilla Senyah and Jennifer Caratola as well as junior Jessica Bonelli in the 4x100 relay. The relay team posted an ECAC qualifying effort of 50.69 seconds.
Bonelli notched a time of 26.39 seconds in the 200 meters for seventh place.
"Personally, I was ready to go out, run hard and just compete," Bonelli said. "Overall, I was happy with my performances, but there is definitely room for improvement."
The 5,000 meters was also a big event for success, as four runners from the College placed in this race. Sophomore Martine McGrath earned sixth place at 17:44.52 and was followed by sophomore Megan Donovan in ninth at 18:11.21.
Sophomore Nicole Ullmeyer was next in 15th place with a time of 18:53.04, while senior Christine Nystrom finished in 17th with a time of 19:01.17. McGrath, Donovan and Ullmeyer all qualified with ECAC standard times.
In other women's results, freshman Meghan Miller enjoyed a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, notching a time of 1:07.01, and freshman Ashley Krauss placed ninth in the hammer throw with a distance of 30.57 meters.
On the men's side, the Lions added another ECAC-worthy time in the 4x100 relay. Junior Wes Friedman, sophomore Rob McGowan and freshmen Mark Gardner and Lee Jones combined for a finish of 43.24 seconds.
Senior Dan Mitchell took home fifth place in the long jump with a distance of 6.39 meters and threw the javelin 48.7 meters to give him 14th place.
Freshman Brandon Rodkewitz ended his 5,000-meter run in seventh with a ECAC time of 15:26.40, while junior Steve Kinney completed the race at 15:35.32 for 13th place.
Continuing the positive trend, three Lions had top 10 finishes in the 1,500 meters. Junior Galen Johnson placed seventh at 4:06.01 and sophomore Greg Bull finished in 10th place at 4:09.40. Sophomore Josh Krowicki finished eighth with a time of 4:08.79.
"I wasn't sure how I was going to perform coming into the meet since the last time I raced in the 1,500 was almost a year ago," Krowicki said. "But my time was consistent with the workouts I've been running so I wasn't that surprised. It's still early though, and I hope to really improve on that."
In other men's results, sophomore Al Wonesh brought home an 11th-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles at 57.77 seconds and was closely followed by junior Otto Katt, who boasted a time of 58.47 for a 13th place mark. Junior Brian Donatelli placed ninth, 10th and 11th in the hammer throw, shot put and discus, respectively.
The Lions' next event is the Danny Curran Invitational at Moravian College in Chester, Pa., on Saturday.
