By Eddie Young
Sports Editor
The College’s women’s track and field won their fifth consecutive outdoor New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship, while the men finished in second place for the fifth year in a row. The women scored a point in all 21 events to get to their 223.5 total, helping them to fend off the second-place Rowan team by 3.5 points. The men scored a point in all but one event.
Fifth-year Cassidy Quinn got the party started for the Lions on May 3, as she took home a gold in the 10,000-meter race, the first final of the weekend. She had a wire-to-wire lead, finishing the event in 39:05.44, 25 seconds before the second-place finisher.
The Lions also earned a one-two finish in the hammer throw, with seniors Kerri McCarthy and Jessica Reilly continuing their dominance in the event this season. McCarthy won gold with a 52.06-meter throw, while Reilly was right behind her, earning silver with a 50.08-meter throw.
“This conference title means more to me than any of the other championships we have won with it being the final one of my career,” McCarthy, a criminology major, said. “It was a fight from the very first event to the very last and I am just grateful and proud to know I did my part in helping my team get to this point because these girls earned it.”
Sophomore Maya Scannell also finished on the podium on Saturday, as she took second in the pole vault. She vaulted herself over the 3.35-meter bar, giving her silver and stopping an all-Stockton podium from happening in the event.
Senior Lily Lorio and junior Annalise Stephens earned silver and bronze medals in the javelin throw. They had throws of 37.45 meters and 37.20 meters, respectively, and finished amongst four Rowan competitors, stealing some crucial points for the College.
After day one of the event, the Lions were in second, trailing Rowan by 14.5 points. It took a big second day for the Lions to pass the Profs.
Junior Sarah Scepkowksi dominated the heptathlon, winning four of the seven events and finishing with 4,048 points for her second straight NJAC title. Sophomore Samantha Magin was right behind her in second place, winning two of the three events Scepkowski did not win and earning 3,757 points for a silver medal.
In what ended up being a massive decision to help the Lions win the conference title, the 4x100-meter relay team took home the College’s final gold of the weekend after Rowan’s team got disqualified. Magin anchored the relay with sophomore Mackenzie Burke, sophomore Rukky Daranijo and freshman Petra Doherty, as they teamed up to cross the line in 48.54 seconds. Rowan’s disqualification in the event knocked them out of the points and moved the Lions from second to first.
Scepkowksi was able to find the podium in two other events. She cleared the 1.52-meter bar in her first try to win the silver in the high jump. She also joined Burke on the podium of the 100-meter hurdles, as Burke took a silver with 15.11 seconds and Scepkowski a bronze with 15.22 seconds.
“I was so happy to achieve podium finishes in three of my events, but the most rewarding part was celebrating the big team victory with the best teammates,” Scepkowski, a speech pathology major, said.
Reilly was able to earn herself another silver medal on day two, as a 36.62-meter throw would get her second place in the discus throw.
Junior Kelly O’Grady took home a silver in the 800-meter race, crossing the finish line in 2:12.11 seconds. She also later teamed up with Daranijo, Burke and freshman Brenna Omert in the 4x400-meter relay, as the group came in second with a time of 3:50.68.
Daranijo also put together an impressive performance in the 400-meter dash. After having the best time in the preliminary round on Saturday, she took home a bronze on Sunday with a time of 57.21 seconds. She joined Scepkowski and Burke as the three Lions to earn three medals on the weekend.
Senior Eliza Bruncaj won bronze in the 400-meter hurdles, as she came in third with a time of 1:03.04, just barely keeping the fourth-place Burke off of another podium.
Every point-scoring finish proved crucial for the College, as it was only 3.5 that gave them the title over Rowan.
For the men, the first day of the event did not see any victories, but there were four bronze medal performances. Junior Nate Kidwell finished in third in the 3000-meter steeplechase, freshman Noah Traverso in the long jump, senior Steve Daramola in the hammer throw and senior Alexander Bogues in the javelin.
Day two saw six gold medals earned for the Lions.
Freshman Maxin Rychkov continued his historical freshman year as he took three medals on the day, two gold and one silver. He won both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes with times of 10.51 seconds and 20.98 seconds, just beating out Shamar Love and Robert McKinney in both events. His time in the 200 broke his own program record, doing so for the third time this year.
Junior Jayvee Dumas won the decathlon, finishing with 6,142 points and stunning in the pole vault, with his best effort being 4.65 meters.
Sophomore Christian Farhat won the shot put with a throw of 15.31 meters. Junior Jayden Wright also finished in third in this event, with a throw of 14.86 meters.
Daramola added to his bronze from the day before with a gold in the discus throw. His 44.87-meter throw got the job done for the win in the event.
Sophomore Lucas Lattimer rounded out the gold medals for the Lions with a win in the 800-meter race for the second year in a row. He won the event in a photo-finish, crossing the finish line just three-hundredths of a second before the second place finisher. He had a time of 1:53.92 seconds, and junior Thomas Blach took bronze with a time of 1:54.16.
After finishing their conference championship meet, the Lions will now look ahead to the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference Championship on May 14-15 in Williamstown, Massachusetts, before the NCAA Outdoor Championships take place on May 22-24 in Geneva, Ohio.
