EMMITSBURG, MD- After the first day of competition the Rider University men's track and field team leads the field at the 2023 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Morgan Track hosted by Mount St. Mary's University. 

On day one, the Broncs' lone gold medalist came in the Javelin as Zach Moyer would win the event with a 55.34m mark. For Moyer, it is his first MAAC Championship after finishing 5th last year at the MAAC Championships and it is also a new PR for the Junior.

Jayden DuBard would have an impressive day in the Hammer Throw hitting an ECAC/IC4A qualifying mark of 53.98m to take 2nd in the event.

On the track, Artie Burgess had a pair of incredible showings in the prelims in the 100m and 200m. In the 100m Burgess would hit an ECAC/IC4A qualifying mark of 10.73 Burgess would follow it up by hitting another ECAC/IC4A qualifying time in the 200m of 21.52. Burgess would qualify as the favorite in both final events tomorrow and will be joined by Jerome Boyer in the 200m.

Boyer would be able to qualify for the 200m finals tomorrow as well as the 400m after running an ECAC/IC4A qualifying time of 48.79 to go to the finals tomorrow afternoon. 

Marques Merriweather got the final ECAC/IC4A qualifying mark to send a Bronc to the MAAC finals tomorrow. Merriweather would finish 2nd overall in the field in the prelims and would send himself to the finals after running a time of 14.37.

Rider had 12 runners qualify for the finals tomorrow as Rider will look to take home their first Outdoor title since 2013

QUOTES AND NOTES
"We had a very good day 1 filled with some big highlights. We had some very good solid performances in the field events that have put us into the lead after the first day. ." - Rider Head Coach Bob Hamer

"Moyer was great in the javelin today. He has had a really good season and capped it off with a huge win. I am really excited for him. He shows up every day and puts in the work required to be successful. This is a very exciting moment for him. He stood up and brought it in a big time moment. The javelin was a big event for us today with four men scoring. " - Rider Head Coach Bob Hamer 

"The men's pole vault was a big event for us today with Santiago and Clements going 2-3. Those are big points that we needed in that event. "- Rider Head Coach Bob Hamer

"DuBard had a big day in the hammer throw to finish second and hit the IC4A mark as well. The throws had a good start today and we are looking forward to some big things tomorrow as well. "- Rider Head Coach Bob Hamer

"We are excited about the position that we are in after day one and we are looking to build on this momentum moving forward.  "- Rider Head Coach Bob Hamer