RIVERDALE, N.Y. - Malin Olsson (Malmo, Sweden) of the Manhattan College women's track & field team had quite an afternoon at Draddy Gymnasium on Wednesday. On her fifth effort in the long jump competition, Olsson broke her own school record with a leap of 6.14 meters (20 feet, 1½ inches), becoming the first Manhattan woman ever to jump 20 feet indoors. Then on her final attempt, Olsson shattered that mark, jumping 6.24 m (20'5¾). Her record leap was the highlight of the Manhattan College Invitational, the Jaspers' annual tri-meet with Fordham and Southern Connecticut State.
Olsson's jump, the 11th-best leap in the nation this season, was just short of the NCAA automatic qualifier of 6.28 meters. However, at least the top 14 jumpers in the country (regardless of mark) will compete at the NCAA Championships. In addition, she automatically qualified for the European Under-23 Championships, which will be held in Ostrava, Czech Republic in July.
"I think about it a little," Olsson said about the NCAA Championships. "It's not my goal, but I really want to go. I might have a chance, and I would be so happy if I got there."
Also in the women's long jump, Andrea Nyback (Koping, Sweden) took second with a leap of 5.69 m (18'8), while Katelyn Savage (North Haledon, N.J.), who was long jumping in a Manhattan uniform for the first time, placed fourth (5.42 m, 17'9½). In the women's high jump, Megan Tice (Hyde Park, N.Y.) cleared 1.70 m (5'7) to finish second and qualify for the ECAC Championships.
On the men's side, Colin Quirke (Los Gatos, Calif.) captured first place in both the shot put (15.81 m, 51'10½) and weight throw (15.92 m, 52'2¾). In the shot put, Quirke led a 1-2-3-4 finish for Manhattan. Nick Estis (Bardonia, N.Y.) won the 55 meters in a time of 6.6 seconds, while Mike Carroll (Nanuet, N.Y.) took first in the 55 meter hurdles (8.0), second in the high jump (1.94 m, 6'4¼) and fourth in the long jump (6.57 m, 21'6¾).
This weekend, the whole squad will be in action at the St. Valentine Invitational in Boston. It will be the Jaspers' final tune-up before the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships on Feb. 19.
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