BOSTON, MA – The Rider University men's track and field team opened action at the 2019 IC4A Championships on Saturday afternoon. The three-day event takes place March 1-3 at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center.

Heading into the final day, the Broncs are tied for 20th-place with one point.

Rider had one All-East performance on Saturday.

Freshman Ayo Oyewole (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) finished in eighth-place in the long jump with a leap of 6.89m to earn All-East accolades.  

Senior Russell Malko (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) had a strong day for the Broncs. He qualified for the finals in the 500 and as part of the distance medley relay. Malko was seventh in the prelims of the 500 with a time of 1:04.34.

Alongside Malko, Tom Long (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson), Kevin Heredia (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) and Danniel Belay (Gaithersburg, MD/Gaithersburg) won their heat and placed third overall in the prelims with a time of 9:57.67. The mark was the second-fastest in program history.

Rider also got a strong showing from the 4x400 quartet of Jerome Boyer (Edison, NJ/Edison), Dalin Hackley (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township), James Green (Timonium, MD/Dulaney) and Noah Rivera (Randolph, NJ/Newton). They finished eighth in the prelims at 3:15.43 to qualify for the finals.  

NOTES & QUOTES
"The men started slow today, but things picked up towards the end of the meet with the relays. Oyewole was able to finish 8th and earn All-East honors. He struggled a bit today, but figured it out enough to place in the top-eight. He's had a great freshman year and this meet will be a valuable learning experience for him." – Rider Head Coach Bob Hamer

"Malko raced well enough to advance in the 500 and he has a great opportunity to do something really special tomorrow." – Hamer  

"The 4x400 and DMR both ran great races today. These are a bunch of guys who think every time they toe the line that they will do something big and they did that again today. I'm very excited to watch them compete tomorrow. It's another chance for something big." – Hamer

- Matt Kraemer finished 11th in the weight throw with a toss of 17.02m.