The Lions stood out among 12 other competing teams at the Princeton Relays on Saturday Jan. 23 with both the men and women taking the win for the 4x400-meter relay and coming up strong in other competitions. Held at Princeton University, the relays involved a number of NCAA Division I programs.
Both the men and women’s teams excelled in track and field events that began at 4 p.m. in the Jadwin Gymnasium of in-state Division I rival Princeton University. The Lions won the 4x400 with the outstanding performances and combined efforts of freshman Kayla Ghanavati, senior Jianna Spadaccini, freshman Brielle Doremus and junior Meryl Wimberley earning an ECAC qualifying time of 4:03.26.
The men, also coming in first, earned an ECAC time of 3:23.40 with the hard work of four men: junior Jule Brooks, freshman Robert Searby, senior DeShard Stevens and junior Kyle Gilroy.
On top of Gilroy’s 4x400 win, he also earned himself two second-place titles with a time of 51.33 seconds in the 400 and 8.28 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.
Spadaccini earned another ECAC mark with a time of 58.75 seconds coming in second place in the 400. Senior Priscilla Senyah also earned a second place spot with a NCAA provision time of nine seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.
In the 800-meter relay, sophomore Katie Nestor took the second place title with Wimberley following right behind her taking third.
4x400 runner Brooks also scored a fifth place title in the 300 meter with sophomore Robert Jiggetts also stealing a spot in fifth place in the 60-meter dash.
In the field events, junior Thomas Conroy came in sixth place in the weight throw with 15.37 meters while junior Sarah Wehrhan earned a place in the top 10 with 14 meters, just missing the ECAC cut by .05.
“The 4x4 was absolutely insane. Just about every person from (the College) was down on the track rooting for the men and women,” Doremus said, who contributed to the 4x400 meter win. “We held our own up against some D1 schools and proved that we’re not a team to be taken lightly.
Overall, the Lions proved themselves notable competitors against Divison I athletes. Competitors in the Princeton Relays included the College, Princeton University, Georgian Court University, Kutztown University, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Rider University, Rutgers University, St. Joseph’s University, St. Peter’s College, Stony Brook University and Temple University.
The Lions head to Haverford College on Saturday Jan. 30 for their next meet.
