Bronx, NY - Manhattan track and field picked up five individual wins Friday at Fordham's Robert Elkin Invitational, including four from the Jasper throwers.
Highlights:
- The Manhattan women swept the shot put competition, with Lasma Padedze (Ogre, Latvia / Ogre Secondary School No. 1) capturing first place and recording a distance of 13.58 meters, the MAAC's best shot put performance of the season. She was followed by Alexandra Preckajlo (Ocean, NJ / St. Rose), who hit a distance of 13.08 meters for second place, and Cheyenne Lewis (Queens, NY / Washingtonville) who came in third with a throw of 12.04 meters, her best shot performance of the year.
- The Jaspers also went one-two-three in the women's weight throw. Sophomore Nina Bjorkman (Vasteras, Sweden / Widenska Idrottsgymnasium) finished first with a 15.74-meter throw, hitting over 15 meters for the first time this season. Preckajlo nabbed second place again with a throw of 15.17 meters, while Lewis took third with a distance of 14.50 meters.
- Anu Awonusi (Dublin, Ireland / Kilkenny College) won the men's shot put with a distance of 16.68 meters, topping the MAAC's best 2019-20 performers.
- Enrique Martinez (San Salvador, El Salvador / Barton CC) won the men's weight throw, hitting 16.57 meters. Awonusi took third in the event with a throw of 14.08 meters, an indoor PR.
- Newcomer Elijah Sleasman won the men's pole vault on Friday, reaching 3.08 meters and setting his collegiate PR.
- Fellow freshman Nicola Scaglione (Oceanside, NY / Oceanside) claimed second in the women's 3,000-meter race, her first collegiate competition in the event. She finished with a time of 10:35.83.
- Yet another freshman, Quemarii Williams (Danville, IL / Danville), finished with a second-place showing in the men's 400-meters, earning a time of 49.94 in his first 400-meter event.
- Andria Scaglione (Oceanside, NY / Oceanside) placed third in the women's mile with a time of 5:12.66.
- Distance runner Ryan Tierney (Staten Island, NY / St. Peter's) earned third place in the men's 800-meters, finishing in 1:59.41. Teammate Chris Emerson (Westbury, NY / Kellenberg Memorial) placed fourth in the men's 3,000-meters with a time of 8:55.02, besting his previous PR by more than 10 seconds.
- Sprinter Larry McCullum (Piscataway, NJ / Piscataway) took home fourth in both the men's 60-meters and 200-meters. He earned a time of 7.06 in the dash, and 23.33 in the 200.
Up Next:
Manhattan will compete again on Saturday, January 11 in the TCNJ Invitational at The Armory. The meet begins at 6:00 pm.
