新泽西州劳伦斯维尔（2006年5月7日）——主教练
丹·麦加他知道这并不容易，但他也知道他有一大批能够在压力下挺身而出的运动员。令麦加高兴的是，曼哈顿田径队的运动员们在周日下午的MAAC男子和女子户外团体锦标赛上一次又一次的勇敢表现，夺得了亚军骑手的冠军。曼哈顿的
米兰Jotanovic被命名为田径赛的男表演者，达内尔·道格拉斯获得了田径比赛的男表演者称号，而女士贾斯珀斯·蒂娜·马吉和
杰西卡很是田赛项目的联合女表演者。
"I never doubted our ability, but I'm always nervous about winning because ever year it turns out to be a great competition with Rider," said Mecca. "The Rider coaches do a great job and have a great program, and it always comes down to which team has the better day."
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Over the past decade, the Jaspers have had the better day, winning 37 out of a possible 38 MAAC team titles. Manhattan's latest triumph marks the ninth consecutive outdoor crown for the men, while the Lady Jaspers have won eight of the previous nine outdoor titles.
"It's not so much about the streak," said Mecca. "It's really about the entire team working hard and coming together to have days like this. Once again, I'm proud of each and every one of our athletes for what they accomplished out there today. You can run down our entire roster and see name after name of those who contributed in big ways."
Jansson, Magi, and Jasmine Rogers were three of the names that Mecca was referring to. All three had a remarkable meet, each scoring in numerous events. Like she did back in February at the MAAC Indoor Championships, Magi scored in all four jumping events and added the javelin to the list this time around. Rogers won the 100m hurdles and the 100m dash, while comprising the final leg of the first place 4x100 relay team. She took third place in the 200m dash, and also scored in two field events, the javelin and shot put.
Magi and Rogers did not lack versatility in the slightest, but no one at the entire meet proved to be more well-rounded and more of a "workhorse" than Jansson. The multi-event athlete competed in nine events over two days and scored in eight of them. Jansson won the 400m hurdles and also scored in the 100m hurdles, 200m dash, high jump, pole vault, javelin, shot put, and discus.
"It was an absolutely incredible effort by all, but to score in as many events as Jess, Jasmine, and Tiina did is truly amazing," noted Mecca. "Don't forget Darnell Douglas or Milan Jotanovic either. Those two produced tremendous performances as well."
Forgetting Douglas and Jotanovic is nearly impossible, considering what the two meant to the team's victory.
Jotanovic, a sophomore shot putter, continued his assault on the MAAC record books on Sunday. After setting new meet records at both the MAAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships as a freshman, Jotanovic broke his own meet records at both meets this year. With a whopping mark of 19.30m, the 2006 NCAA Indoor All-American led a 1-2-3-4-6 Jasper finish in the event. Freshman Tom Cushing, who ironically is roommates with the four-time MAAC Champion, was Jotanovic's closest competition. Cushing, who finished second at the MAAC Indoor meet with a new PR, was the runner-up on Sunday with a throw of 15.47m. Paul Peulich, Rich Reuter, and Anders Constantin were the other three Jaspers scorers in order of finish. Peulich, Constantin, and Reuter also scored for Manhattan in Saturday's hammer throw.
On the other hand, Douglas captured the gold in both the 200m and 400m by running his best meet as a Jasper. With his 200m time of 21.81 and 400m mark of 48.45, Douglas became the first Jasper to ever win both the men's 200m and 400m at the MAAC Championships.
"Darnell had an incredible meet," commented Mecca about the junior sprinter who transferred to Manhattan from Rhode Island right before the start of the spring semester. "He joined our program just a few months ago and has worked very hard in those months to get to this point."
Winning two events on Sunday was not the only difference for Douglas from the MAAC Indoor Championships, which was his first major meet donning the Kelly Green and White. This time around, Douglas, as well as his sprinting comrades, had the luxury of looking toward well-accomplished sprints coach Joe Ryan. Ryan was unable to attend the indoor meet because he was back in his native Ireland, caring for his ailing mother.
"Having Joe back was great," noted Mecca. "He is such an integral part of our program and he keeps everyone focused on the task at hand. Having him here was huge, and you can see that in the performances."
Ryan's sprinters had a big day all around, starting with the women's 4x100m relay team. The squad of Amy Colantuono, Stacy Gregory, Lauren Cervino, and Rogers finished in 49.04 to take the crown. Colantuono and Cervino also teamed up with Kendra Geller and Erin Gregorek to capture the 4x400m relay title.
In the individual events, Geller led a 3-4-6-7 Manhattan finish in the 400m with a time of 59.13. Following Geller in order of finish were Gregorek, freshman Ashley Mlotkiewicz, and Cervino. Mlotkiewicz, who returned to competition just a week ago at Yale, also scored in the 400m hurdles.
Along with Rogers, Gregory and Colantuono picked up points in the 100m by finishing third and fourth, respectively. The Lady Jaspers owned second through sixth place in the 200m dash with Geller leading the way at 26.59. Rogers, Jansson, Gregory, and Colantuono followed.
The distance aspect of the program also saw some clutch performances by Manhattan athletes, none gutsier than those of seniors Caryn Capalbo and Ginine Lucarello. After the pair finished second and third in yesterday's 10K run, both managed to complete a second event on Sunday. In a true display of endurance, Capalbo captured fifth place in the 5000m run with a mark of 18:29.11. Lucarello took ninth in the 1500m run.
Senior Marissa Olivieri also capped off her career in impressive fashion. Olivieri finished a close second to Marist's Chris Wahl in the 800m with a time of 2:19.23. In what resembles a "passing of the torch," freshman Angela Bernarde was right behind the veteran Olivieri in the event. Bernarde, who is part of a freshman core of distance runners that will now inherit the program with the graduation of a strong senior class, took third at 2:23.93.
In addition to Bernarde, two more freshmen scored in the 1500m. Chanel Williamson ran a new PR of 4:54.55 to take fourth, while Melissa Trauscht was seventh. Williamson also scored a seventh place finish in the 5K.
"These girls really stepped it up today, and it was just awesome to witness," said first-year assistant coach Sara Vergote, who focuses on distance.
On the men's distance side, senior Tyler Raymond ran his best 1500m time of the season at 3:50.30 to take fourth, only behind a trio of Iona runners, which included phenom Richard Kiplagat. Raymond also produced a nice double with a fourth place finish in the 800m at 1:54.69.
Back in the field, Magi won the triple jump, which one can consider the versatile athlete's signature event, by over 40 centimeters with a leap of 11.77m. Shanelle Lawrence placed sixth in the event at 10.41m. In the high jump, there was a log jam at the top with five athletes clearing 1.65m. After tiebreakers and jump-offs, Magi edged out teammate Paige McConney for the crown, while Jansson was fifth. Caitlyn Kjolhede, the 2006 MAAC Indoor High Jump Champ, cleared 1.60m to score with a sixth place finish.
In the women's pole vault, the champ was none other than senior Jenna Daly. Daly, who is now a six-time MAAC Champion in the pole vault, tied her own meet record of 3.50m, which she set back in 2004. Magi took third (J3.05m) behind Daly with Jannsson placing fifth and Amy Monsegur eighth.
After disappointing finishes on day one in the long jump, Dexter Jules, Nick Newman, and Dennis Street rebounded to finish second, fourth and fifth, respectively in the triple jump. Winning the event for Manhattan was newcomer Kosta Randjic. Randjic's mark of 14.54m was 12 centimeters better than that of Jules.
In the men's high jump, Chris Sole did not have an outstanding day, but still managed to capture the individual crown. Sole, who now owns indoor and outdoor conference titles, cleared 2.14m (7' ?Ľ") just two weeks ago at the Metropolitan Championships, but only needed to jump 1.99m to win at the MAAC meet. Nikolay Tkachenko and Andrew Pellet also scored in the event with fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively.
"Everyone was terrific today," said Mecca, who was already thinking about tomorrow's practice as the team gears up for next weekend's IC4A/ECAC Championships. "Joe, Sara, and [jumps coach] Elliot [Belin] got everyone ready to go, and the athletes dug deep and got it done. It was unbelievable across the board."
