February 16, 2007 - Women Win MAAC Championship / Men 2nd
February 16, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Track & Field
Rider at MAAC Championships
Women Win Championship Title / Men 2nd
NEW YORK, NY— Good things come to those who wait. After ten consecutive runner-up finishes, the Rider women’s team won its first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Indoor Championship, and the Rider men placed runner-up for the 10th time in 11 years. “It feels great,” said head coach and women’s conference coach of the year Rob Pasquariello. “To defeat such a quality program such as Manhattan makes the victory all the sweeter.”
“First off, my congratulations goes to the entire Rider program for a fantastic meet,” said Manhattan head coach Dan Mecca on gojaspers.com. “Their coaching staff has always done a great job, and their athletes are deserving of the accomplishment.”
Senior Jazmine Fenlator (Wayne/Wayne Valley) won the shot put (14.80m) and the weight throw (16.54m) and was named the MAAC Most Outstanding Co-Performer for field events.
“To defeat the Jaspers, you know that you are going to have to take it,” Pasquariello added. “They aren’t going to give it to you and we showed a lot of maturity and a lot of growth in the last year to finally get a MAAC Championship. Jazmine [Fenlator] was named the top conference field performer and to do so against the top competition that she faced is just a super effort on her part.” Fenlator, the 2005-06 Female Athlete of the Year at Rider set a conference championship meet and Rider school record in the shot put.
“It was awesome,” said Fenlator who was a member of Rider’s Outdoor MAAC Championship track team as a freshman. “The seniors remembered the championship that we won as freshmen and we saw today as an opportunity to go out with a bang and we did. We knew we had the talent and today was really a good victory. We’ve never won an indoor conference championship and everyone contributed from the freshman all the way up to the seniors and what makes this very satisfying is that this was a complete team effort in every single event.”
For the Rider men, senior David Payne (Neptune) won the 55m dash (6.36) and the 200m dash (21.77) and was named the conference Male Outstanding Track Performer of the meet. Junior Randy Nixon (Manorville, NY/West Hampton) won the 55m hurdles (7.55), was second in the 55m dash (6.56) and fourth in the 200m dash (22.83) with freshman Kevin Breen (Langhorne, PA/Archbishop Ryan) winning the pole vault (4.57m) and sophomore Desmond Hamilton (Pennsauken) winning the long jump (6.97m) and placing third in the triple jump (14.06m), fifth in the 200m dash (22.85) and seventh in the 400m (51.16).
“On the men’s side, we knew that Manhattan’s depth was going to hurt us,” said Pasquariello. “And we had to be clean and pristine with our performances and while we gave a great effort, we didn’t quite have the perfect day that we needed to in order to overtake a great program like Manhattan. I am really happy with the way the men performed and David [Payne] winning the most outstanding performer award and setting a conference championship meet and Rider school record in the 55-meter dash made the meet a very special day for our program and Rider University.”
“We came in focused and did the best that we could,” said Payne. “I felt that we trained hard all year for this one meet and that training paid off. We knew that Manhattan is a very strong team but we see the gap closing each year.”
Also for the women’s team, freshman Karlise Cureton (Harrisburg, PA/Susquehanna Twp.) won the 55m dash (7.53), placed third in the 55m hurdles (8.52) and was eighth in the 200m (27.14) with sophomore Kelly Kajunski (Glenmore, Pa./Downington East) winning the high jump (1.70m), placing fourth in the triple jump (11.16m), fifth in the long jump (5.06m) and eighth in the 55m hurdles (8.96).
“The conference award is great,” Fenlator added. "When you have the support of your team, cheering and helping you, all you have to worry about is performing your best and if you don’t the next runner will pick you up and do their best and that enthusiasm and support is what made this such a great team. Achieving that award against some of the top competition around is such an honor for me as well as for the team and Rider University.”
Freshman Alicia Price (Voorhees/Eastern) placed second in the shot put (12.24m) and second in the weight throw (12.73m) with sophomore Tabatha Haskins (Medford/Shawnee) finishing second in the long jump (5.25m), second in the 55m hurdles (8.42), third in the triple jump (11.26m) and fourth in the high jump (1.60m).
Sophomore Tricia Crotty (Lewistown, PA/Indian Valley) was third in the 200m dash (26.81) and fourth in the 55m dash (7.644), freshman Jessica Tack (Hummelstown, PA/Hershey) was third in the shot put (12.03m) and sixth in the weight throw (10.97m), senior Allyson Angelo (Brick/Red Bank Catholic) placed third in the pole vault (3.05m) and eighth in the long jump (4.93m), sophomore Elizabeth Spokony (Woodstown) was fourth in the 200m dash (26.85) and sixth in the 55m dash (7.73), freshman Lauren Lester (Schenectady, NY/Mohanosen) was fourth in the 800m (2:21.74), senior Danielle Holmes (Hackensack/Holy Angels) was fifth in the triple jump (11.10m) and ninth in the long jump (4.79m), freshman Kelsey Kohler (Southampton, PA/St. Basil’s) was fifth in the 5,000m (18:34.45) and junior Rebecca Clatch (Drums, PA/Hazelton Area) placed sixth in the pole vault (2.75m).
Also for the men’s team, sophomore AJ Parillo (South River) was third in the 400m (49.15), fourth in the long jump (6.49m) and seventh in the 200m (23.10), junior Jeff Stead (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury) was third in the mile (4:21.84), junior Andre Fearon (Newark, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep) was third in the 800m (1:53.30), freshman Paul Racioppi (Old Bridge) was fourth in the 55m hurdles (8.68), ninth in the 400m (51.56) and 13th in the 55m dash (7.02), junior John Smith (Cliffwood Beach/Matawan) was fourth in the 3,000m (8:45.37), sophomore Tom Planer (Cranford) was fourth in the high jump (1.86m), sophomore Phillip Breen (Langhorne, PA/Archbishop Ryan) was fourth in the pole vault (3.75m), senior Danny Enck (Lititz, PA/Warwick) was fifth in the weight throw (15.69m) and sixth in the shot put (14.40m), senior Doug Beck (Branchburg/Somerville) was fifth in the shot put (14.55m) and sixth in the weight throw (15.02m), junior Paul Matuszak (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) placed eighth in the 5,000m (15:48.25) and junior Joe Lucchio (Stated Island, NY/St. Joseph by the Sea) was ninth in the 5,000m (16:54.39).
Senior Katie O’Connor (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Twp.) was sixth in the 55m hurdles (8.68), sixth in the long jump (5.00m) and seventh in the triple jump (10.99m), senior Katie Chin (Jackson/Jackson Memorial) was seventh in the 400m (1:01.43) and 12th in the 200m dash (27.32), sophomore Kelly Wojciehowski (Fair Haven/Rumson Fair Haven) was eighth in the 3,000m (10:42.65), senior Laura Carpenter (Englishtown/St. John Vianney) was 11th in the 5,000m (20:01.55), sophomore Andrea Campbell (Somers Point/Mainland Regional) was 12th in the mile (5:37.86) and senior Jennifer Lee (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) was 15th in the 5,000m (20:40.14).
The women's 4x400 relay of Chin, Crotty, Cureton and Maynard placed second with a time of 4:03.87 with the DMR of Campbell, Carpenter, Crowe and Dissinger finishing fourth (12:56.68).
“Any head coach knows that a coaching award has to do more with the staff and the athletes around you than yourself personally,” said Pasquariello. “I just kind of point everybody in the right direction. The team earned the award for me. We are a young program compared to the programs in the conference and to be recognized ahead of not only some of the best coaches in the region but on the national level is something very special to me and the team.”
The men's DMR of Fearon, Racioppi, Stead and Dahl won in a time of 10:25.40 with the 4x400 relay of Hamilton, Nixon, Payne and Parillo placing third (3:30.71).
“Since I came into the program, I’ve made it clear that we needed to establish different expectations,” said Pasquariello. “On the women’s side, finishing second was not part of the tradition that I wanted to establish and we took a great start today in establish our own tradition.”
Tolls to travel to the Armory in New York? $12.00. Cost of admission to the conference championships? $5.00. Establishing a new tradition in track and field at Rider? Priceless.
Team Scores:
Women: 1. Rider 195, 2. Manhattan 169.50, 3. Marist 94.50, 4. Iona 82, 5. Loyola (Md.) 63, 6. Saint Peter’s 5
Men: 1. Manhattan 176, 2. Rider 134, 3. Iona 64, 4. Marist 63 5.Saint Peter’s 47
