Track & Field

 Track Competes at NJAC Championships

POMONA, N.J. (05/03/08) - Freshman Jamie Grenger (Hazlet, N.J.) captured the javelin throw at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships to lead the Kean University men's and women's track and field teams on Saturday afternoon at Richard Stockton College.

Grenger (pictured right) led a host of Cougar throwers, as Kean finished sixth in the women's team standings (48.50 points), while the men placed seventh (65.50 points).  Both The College of New Jersey men and women captured NJAC titles.  

Freshman Josh Chavanne (Elizabeth, N.J.) qualified for the ECAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in a pair of events, breaking his own school record in the pole vault (4.20 meters/13-9.25) with a second-place finish and adding a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (56.03).

In the women's meet, the Cougars recorded 38 of the team's 48.50 points in the field events, including 35.5 points in the throwing events.  Grenger led the way, winning the javelin throw in her first NJAC Championship meet with a throw of 33.49 meters.  Jan Bush (Abington, Pa.) added a fifth place finish (30.89 meters) and Samantha Chapman (Middletown, N.J.) placed seventh (29.37 meters) in the javelin throw.

Bush, who is in her first year throwing, added a second-place finish in the shot put with a career-best throw of 12.10 meters, while Sarah Lyon (Clymer, N.Y.) placed third in the discus throw (33.66 meters) and eighth in the shot put (10.13 meters).  Junior Sarah Zadoyko (Pompton Lakes, N.J.) was seventh in the discus (29.48 meters) and freshman Liz Hatos (Egg Harbor Twp., N.J.) was seventh in the hammer throw (26.94 meters).

Junior Erin Jones (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) was sixth in the pole vault with a leap of 2.80 meters to round out the Cougar place-winners in the field events.

On the track , junior Demeka Pressley (Trenton, N.J.) tied for eighth in the 200-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 27.21 seconds.  Both Cougar relay teams finished fifth, as the foursome of Pressley, Grenger and freshmen Marissa Petrone (Jefferson Twp., N.J.) and Asha Winters (Ewing, N.J.) ran the 400-meter relay in a season-best time of 51.33 seconds, while finishing the 1600-meter relay in 4:12.90. 

In the men's meet, junior Jason Staggers (Jackson, N.J.) (pictured left) placed in all three jumping events.  He finished third in the triple jump (13.42 meters), was tied for fourth in the high jump (1.85 meters) and finished sixth in the long jump (6.32 meters).

Freshman John Badala (Scotch Plains, N.J.) had a solid showing in his first championship meet, placing in three different throwing events.  He finish fifth in the shot put (13.99 meters), fifth in the javelin (50.43 meters) and sixth in discus throw (38.42 meters). 

Rick Jaeger (Hazlet, N.J.) and Darnell Butler (Rahwah, N.J.) placed seventh (13.80 meters) and eighth (13.41 meters) with personal-best throws in the shot put, while Alex Cade (Galloway, N.J.) was eighth in the javelin (48.74 meters).

On the track, junior Seun Oyelaja (Lagos, Nigeria) placed in the 100-meter (11.25 seconds) and 200-meter (22.87 seconds) dashes, while freshman Marques Wallace (Vauxhall, N.J.) was seventh in the 100-meter dash (11.64 seconds). 

Freshman Matt Gough (Jefferson, N.J.) placed seventh in the 400-meter dash in ECAC qualifying time of 50.55 seconds, while junior Reggie James (Willingboro, N.J.) was seventh in the 800-meter run (2:00.50). 

The 400-meter relay team of Wallace, Staggers, Oyelaja and freshman Joe DiMeglio (Metuchen, N.J.) placed third (44.21 seconds), while the 1600-meter relay team of Gough, James, Staggers and freshman Chris Pegeron (Plainfield, N.J.) was fifth in 3:29.81.