PRINCETON, N.J. - After competing in cold, wet and windy conditions last week at Army, the Manhattan College outdoor track & field team returned to action on an absolutely perfect spring afternoon at Princeton University's Weaver Stadium on Saturday. The meet was highlighted by a pair of first-place finishes on the women's side. Cara Rostant (Valley Stream, N.Y.) led a 1-2 finish for the Lady Jaspers in the 400 meters, and Malin Olsson (Malmo, Sweden) won the long jump.
Rostant, who had already qualified for the ECAC Championships in the 200 meters, qualified in the 400, as well, after notching an impressive time of 55.22 seconds. Heidy Palacios (Yonkers, N.Y.) completed the 1-2 sweep for Manhattan, posting a time of 56.32 seconds. Jackie Hargrove (Vienna, Va.) gave the Lady Jaspers three Top 10 finishers in the event, taking 10th in 58.28 seconds.
In the women's long jump, Olsson got the benefit of a slight tailwind to leap 5.86 meters (19 feet, 2¾ inches). Katelyn Savage (North Haledon, N.J.) captured fourth place in the event (5.42 m, 17'9½). Megan Tice (Hyde Park, N.Y.) cleared 1.65 m (5'5) to take fourth in the high jump, while Melissa Yap (Orchard Park, N.Y.) was sixth in the pole vault (3.40 m, 11'1¾). On the track, Maria Jangsten (Gothenburg, Sweden) shaved five seconds off her season-best to finish fourth in the 1500 meters (4:46.87).
Dan Duffy (Monroe, N.Y.) recorded a pair of second-place finishes for the Manhattan men's team. Duffy took second in the long jump with a leap of 6.89 m (22'7¼) and also grabbed second place in the triple jump (13.69 m, 44'11). In the javelin, Andrew Trass (River Dell, N.J.) finished second with a toss of 60.82 m (199'6) and Kevin Rheinheimer (Newton, N.J.) was seventh (52.47 m, 172'2).
Roman Ewald (Olching, Germany) placed eighth or better in three different events. Ewald was third in the discus (46.90 m, 117'5) and took eighth in both the shot put (14.83 m, 48'8) and hammer throw (54.08 m, 177'5). In addition, Rokas Kirlys (Kamaji, Lithuania) had a season-best throw of 43.08 m (141'4) in the discus, good for seventh place.
On the track, Manahttan's top performance was turned in by Justin Chiaravelle (Danbury, Conn.), who made the final of the 110 meter hurdles, finishing seventh in a time of 15.28 seconds. Felix Siljeback-Larsen (Vasteras, Sweden) took eighth in the 110 hurdles (16.04). The Jaspers also had an impressive showing in the 4 x 400 meter relay, as the squad of Tyrek Barney (Hempstead, N.Y.), Dimitri Mobley (Abington, Pa.), Carlos Petrovich (Yonkers, N.Y.) and Nick Estis (Bardonia, N.Y.) placed eighth in 3:26.68.
Manhattan returns to Princeton for the Larry Ellis Invitational in three weeks, then for the ECAC/IC4A Championships in mid-May. But first, the squad splits up for a pair of meets next Saturday. Some athletes will head to the Rutgers Invitational, while the rest of the team will compete at the FDU Invitational.
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