At the Seamus McElligott Invitational this past Saturday, the College's men's and women's indoor track teams posted several Eastern Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship qualifiying marks.
Leading the men's team was sophomore Kyle Gilroy, who set a meet record in the 55-meter high hurdles. Gilroy finished the race in 7.78 seconds and attained "Athlete of the Week" honors. He qualified for the ECAC Championships, one of the two Lions to do so. Sophomore Tom Bocchino, who placed sixth in the 3,000-meter race, qualified for the ECAC meet with a time of 8:49.51.
The College also did well in the pole vault and the mile, as freshman Chris Sommer placed a top height of 3.50 meters and sophomore Kyle Roos collected fourth place in the mile with a time of 4:32.18.
The Lions' men also boasted solid performances in the 400-meter dash, as senior Rob McGowan took second in with a time of 51.53 seconds. Behind McGowan was freshman Justin Worthing, who finished fifth for the Lions, and Woodrow Prevard took sixth.
The women's team also had runners qualify for the ECAC Championships. Their strengths in this meet were in the 800 meters, the 55-meter high hurdles and a large finish in the mile race. The Lion women were able to turn in four ECAC Championship qualifiers as well as a host of first-place finishers.
The College dominated the top 10 of the mile race at this invitational. The Lion's women took second, fourth, seventh, ninth and tenth.
Freshman Claire Johnson led the way in the mile, finishing in second place with a time of 5:14.82. Johnson and junior Michelle Wallace, who finished fourth in 5:15.36, qualified for the ECAC Championships. Freshman Katie Nestor finished seventh followed by senior Martine McGrath in ninth and classmate Megan Donovan in 10th.
The Lion women also did well in the 800-meter as junior Jianna Spadaccini won the race with a time of 2:19.57. Spadaccini's time qualified her for the ECAC Championships as well.
Junior Priscilla Senyah finished in first place in the 55-meter high hurdles with a time of 8.70 seconds. Senyah was also able to meet the ECAC standard with her performance in the race. Senyah also placed fourth in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.59 seconds. Also in the 55-meter high hurdles, Kirsten Gerbehy took third with a time of 9.10 and Meghan Miller took fourth with a time of 9.30. Gerbehy took third in the high jump with a height of 1.50 meters.
Finally, in the 400-meter race, sophomore Meryl Wimberley placed second with a time of 1:02.88 and sophomore Rochelle Prevard took fourth in 1:04.03.
The next meet for the Lions will come on Friday in New York, N.Y. at the New Balance Collegiate Invite. If the College's runners perform like they did at McElligott, they should impress many.
