WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – The Rider University women's track and field team finished second at the 2019 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Outdoor Championships on Sunday afternoon. The two-day event was hosted by Monmouth University and contested at Kessler Stadium.

The host Hawks won the team title with 221.50 points and the Broncs came in second with 181.50 points. Quinnipiac was third with 127.50 points.

To open the day, the Broncs saw a pair of student-athletes bring home medals in the high jump. Junior Quinn Bithell (Cape May, NJ/Lower Cape May) won a gold medal thanks to clearing 1.70m and graduate student Sara Gardner (Holland Township, NJ/Delaware Valley) finished in second-place with a silver-medal mark of 1.65m.

Gardner also defended her title in 100m hurdles with a gold-medal winning time of 14.42. Also in the 100m hurdles, sophomore Joshonda Johnson (Galloway, NJ/Absegami) picked up a bronze medal with a time of 14.81.

Junior Yohanny Rodriguez (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West) brought home a silver medal in the triple jump with a leap of 11.56m.

The Rider 4x100 relay of Cleopatra Morrison (Long Branch, NJ/Long Branch), Genesis Walker (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown Regional High School), Yvette Assongba (Somers Point, NJ/Mainland Regional) and Gardner finished in second-place with a silver-medal time of 47.94.

In the 400, freshman Sophia Castronovo (Emerson, NJ/Emerson) earned a bronze medal with a third-place time of 57.85.

Morrison also brought home a silver medal in the 100m dash with a time of 12.68.

Joshonda Johnson also earned a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles with a third-place time of 1:02.70.

Senior Ashley Berry (Somerset, NJ/Franklin) continued her strong weekend by bringing home a silver medal in the shot put thanks to posting a second-place mark of 13.93m.

The Bronc 4x400 relay of Castronovo, Nicole Berry (Berlin, NJ/winslow Township), Bithell and Johnson finished in third-place with a bronze-medal time of 3:59.20.

For her efforts over the weekend, Castronovo was honored as the MAAC Women's Rookie Track Performer of the Meet.

NOTES & QUOTES
"We had a really great meet today in so many areas. The athletes competed in challenging and difficult conditions at a very high level. Unfortunately, we fell a bit short in our team goals, but I was really proud of the effort. We always want our athletes and team to be tough, gritty, and resilient. They showed that today with their performances time and time again. This will be another step closer to our ultimate goal even if it doesn't exactly feel that way right now." – Rider Head Coach Bob Hamer

"Sara has been great for this program and she was great again today winning the 100 hurdles, finishing 2nd in  the high jump and anchoring the 2nd place 4x100 relay." – Hamer

"It was very exciting to watch Quinn win the high jump today. She has worked so hard to improve herself into a championship-caliber high jumper. She was very raw coming out of high school and Coach Harvey has taken her talent and developed her into a really great performer for this program. She also ran great in the hurdles today. She set two PRs and contributed valuable points for the team." – Hamer  

"Ashley had a standout weekend for the team. She was a key performer that we needed to challenge Monmouth and she stepped up big time in this meet. She won seven MAAC titles in her career and always contributes points in other events as well. She will be very hard to replace in a conference meet for us moving forward." ­– Hamer

"Casrtronovo was great this weekend. We asked a lot of her and she responded every time with a big time result and effort. It is always nice to see freshmen show an ability to be really good when we need them the most and hopefully this will boost her confidence moving forward." – Hamer

- Yohanny Rodriguez finished seventh in the high jump at 1.55m.
- Destiny Kearney came in fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 11.25m.
- Jennifer Maurer was seventh in the triple jump with a mark of 11.01m.
- Samantha Butler ended up in eighth-place in the triple jump at 10.70m.
- Dyani Bigelow landed in fifth-place in the 100m hurdles at 15.87.
- Yvette Assongba finished in seventh in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.28.
- Sara Gardner came in sixth in the 100m dash thanks to crossing the finish line at 13.17.
- Genesis Walker was eight in the 100m dash with a time of 13.26.
- Paris Boucher ended up in eighth-place in the 800 with a time of 2:20.52.
- Nicole Berry landed in fourth-place in the 400m hurdles at 1:03.30.
- Quinn Bithell finished fifth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:03.82.
- Dyani Bigelow came in eighth-place in the 400m hurdles at 1:06.64.
- Ronetta Hunter was fourth in the shot put with a toss of 13.53m.
- Genesis Walker ended up in fourth in the 200 at 26.31.
- Sophia Castronovo landed in seventh-place in the 200 with a time of 26.85.
- Sara Gardner finished eighth in the 200 at 27.87.
- Peri Pavicic came in sixth in the 5,000 with a time of 17:31.85.
- The Rider 4x800 relay of Nicole Berry, Paris Boucher, Andrea Benites and Katie Ward ended up in fourth-place at 9:24.39.
- Ashley Berry came in fourth-place in the discus throw with a toss of 42.67m.
- Fidele Jules was fifth in the discus throw at 40.33m.