Outdoor Track & Field
Rider at IC4A/ECAC Championships
Price Fourth in the Hammer (Rider Record) / All-East honors
Gonzalez qualifies for the finals of the 1500 meter
Wesh Rider Record in the 800 meter
PRINCETON--The Rider University men's and women's track and field teams are competing Friday through Sunday at the IC4A/ECAC Championships hosted by Princeton.
At the Eastern College Athletic Conference championships on Saturday for the Bronc women, senior Alicia Price (Voorhees/Eastern) was fourth in the finals of the hammer throw with Rider record distance of 56.11m (184'1"), earning All-East honors. Price broke the record of 178'7" held by Jazmine Fenlator set in 2007.
Price won the hammer in a MAAC Championship record distance of 52.93m, won the shot put (13.60m) and was fifth in the discus (36.60) at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships two weeks ago and was named the Most Outstanding Performer in the field events.
"Alicia was great," said head coach Bob Hamer. "You could see this coming for a couple of weeks. Coach (Joshua) Russell has been talking about how she was ready to pop the big one and she certainly did that today. She has worked very hard and prepared for this moment. Her growth and development in championship situations allowed her to accomplish this today. We are extremely happy for her."
Price competes in the shot put on Sunday.
At IC4As for the Bronc men, junior Christian Gonzalez (Somerset/Franklin Twp.) placed 10th in the preliminaries of 1500m (3:46.93) and will compete on Sunday in the finals. Gonzalez has already qualified for the NCAA 1st and 2nd round meet in Greensboro, North Carolina on May 27-29.
"Christian felt a little tight today but got the job done and qualified for Sunday," Hamer said. "He got through the day and still looked good in his race. We made a few adjustments going into tomorrow and hopefully that will lead him to an All-East performance on Sunday."
Also for the Rider women, freshman Ashley Hunter (Northampton, Pa.) placed 21st in the 400m hurdles (1:03.55).
Also for the Rider men, freshman Greg Wesh (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) placed 10th in the 800m preliminaries with a Rider record time of 1:49.52, freshman David Hightower (Easton, Pa.) was 11th in the preliminaries of the 110m hurdles (14.48), sophomore Ron Moore (Nashville, Tenn./John Overton) finished 18th in the 400m hurdles (53.69) and senior Brandon Wolf (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) finished 31st in the hammer with a toss of 49.73m.
Wesh broke the 15-year old 800 meter record held by Marc McKithen (1:50.68) set in 1995.
"David had a great year and has matured a lot," said Hamer. "He adjusted to the new height and has really attacked it in his races. Coach (Dudley) Dorival has done a nice job mentoring him. For Greg, every time he steps onto the track, something special comes out of him. I couldn't be happier for him. He was disappointed that he just missed the finals however his time has a chance to qualify him for NCAAs so we are excited that he may get to extend his season."
The women's 4 x 400m relay of junior Shaylah Counts (Newark/Malcolm Shabazz), freshman Lauren Findley (Hallstead, Pa./Blue Ridge), freshman Erin McMullin (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) and Hunter was 19th (3:54.63).
The women's 4x100 relay of freshman Mia Riley (West Caldwell/James Caldwell), McMullin, Counts and Hunter was 21st with a time of 48.63.
The men's 4x100 relay of freshman James Burroughs (West Orange), freshman David Hightower (Easton, Pa.), sophomore Mike Bartoli (Millstone/Allentown) and freshman Daequan Kim (Bordentown) finished 22nd (42.15).
The men's 4 x 400 relay team of Moore, Hightower, Burroughs and Kim ran a season-best 3:16.37 to place 26th.
On Friday for the Rider women, junior Chelsea Callan (Hazlet/Raritan) set a Rider record in the 3000m steeplechase, placing 23rd overall with a time of 11:08.24, breaking her own record by over 11 seconds, set as a sophomore in 2009.
Competition concludes on Sunday.
-RU-
