Complete Results
NEW YORK - In 2011, the Manhattan College men's indoor track & field team didn't clinch its 15th consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) title until the final event-the 4 x 400 meter relay. In 2012, the Jaspers went into the relay with their 16th straight crown already in hand. Manhattan defeated Rider by 60 points, 177-117, to win the team competition at the MAAC Indoor Championships at the New Balance Armory Track & Field Center on Friday night. The Manhattan women finished second behind Saint Peter's.
Manhattan got off to a great start, sweeping the top four places in the first event-the weight throw. Roman Ewald (Olching, Germany) won the conference title with a distance of 18.94 meters (62 feet, 1¾ inches), while Anastas Papazov (Balchik, Bulgaria) was second (18.84 m, 61'9¾) and Edward Brentnall (Atlanta, Ga.) took third (17.09 m, 56'1). Colin Quirke (Los Gatos, Calif.) completed the sweep with a fourth-place effort of 17.00 m (55'9¼). All four athletes bettered the IC4A qualifying standard in the event. Quirke and Ewald later went 1-2 in the shot put. Quirke had a winning throw of 17.91 m (58'9¼), while Ewald's best mark of 16.72 m (54'10¼) was good for the silver medal behind his teammate.
The Jaspers also went 1-2-3-4 in the pole vault, with Brian McGovern (Yonkers, N.Y.) defending his conference title with a season-best clearance of 5.00 m (16'4¾). Albert Johnson III (Painted Post, N.Y.) only took three attempts in the long jump, but all three were farther than the second-place finisher. His best effort was 7.41 m (24'3¾). Johnson also finished fourth in the 60 meters (7.07) and fifth in the 200 meters (22.47). Trevell Moxey (Lansdale, Pa.) improved his season-best in the triple jump. He won the bronze medal with a leap of 14.66 m (48'1¼).
A trio of freshmen came up big on the track in their first MAAC Championships. Abdias Myrtil (Wheatley Heights, N.Y.) secured a pair of second-place finishes in the 60 (7.03) and 200 (22.27), while Sheldon Derenoncourt (Patchogue, N.Y.) won the silver medal in the 400 meters (49.63). Greg Perrier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) ran a season-best time of 1:53.12 to take second in the 800 meters. The 800-meter champion was Kevin D'Emic (Rockaway Point, N.Y.), whose winning time was a season-best 1:52.53. Mikael Rojeras (Sala, Sweden) was fourth in the 800, and his time of 1:54.00 was good enough to qualify him for the IC4A Championships.
With the team title already locked up, the only suspense going into the 4 x 400 relay involved whether or not the Jaspers would achieve an IC4A-qualifying time. The quartet of Tyrek Barney (Hempstead, N.Y.), Derenoncourt, Dimitri Mobley (Abington, Pa.) and Carlos Petrovich (Yonkers, N.Y.) did just that, finishing second in 3:18.98 to beat the standard by a little more than a second.
On the women's side, the Jaspers were led by Cara Rostant (Valley Stream, N.Y.), who was named Most Outstanding Performer for Track Events. Rostant easily won the 400 meters in a time of 55.61 seconds, then broke her own meet record in the 200 meters. Rostant's winning time in the 200 was 24.69 seconds. She later won a silver in the 4 x 400 meter relay, where she was joined by Heidy Palacios (Yonkers, N.Y.), Ieva Vitola (Jekabpils, Latvia) and Ashley Bowman (Elmont, N.Y.). Bowman also grabbed third in both the 60 meters (7.86) and 200 (25.22).
Andrea Nyback (Koping, Sweden) scored points for the Jaspers in three different events. She won the high jump competition by clearing 1.70 m (5'7) on her second attempt. Nyback also took the bronze in the 60 meter hurdles (8.98) and was fourth in the long jump (5.42 m, 17'9½). Doreen Horschig (Lumpzig, Germany) finished just behind Nyback in both events, placing fourth in the 60 hurdles (9.00) and fifth in the long jump (5.39 m, 17'8¼).
In the women's pole vault, Karolin Wagner (Ribbesbuettel, Germany) set a meet record of 3.50 m (11'5¾) to lead a medals sweep for the Jaspers. Melissa Yap (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Sarah Moore (Irvington, N.Y.) both cleared 3.35 m (10'11¾) to claim second and third, respectively. Nyback and Wagner shared Most Outstanding Performer for Field Events honors.
The Saint Peter's women easily won their second straight MAAC indoor title. The Peahens finished with 233.75 team points, while the second-place Jaspers tallied 126.25 points.
In addition, the men's and women's MAAC All-Academic Teams were announced on Friday. Ewald, Johnson and Rojeras were recognized for their success in the classroom. They were joined on the men's All-Academic squad by Mike Carroll (Nanuet, N.Y.), Yardley Keshinover (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), Rokas Kirlys (Kamaji, Lithuania), Pat Porteus (Uniondale, N.Y.), Tom Voorheis (Syracuse, N.Y.), Matt Waldron (Lyndhurst, N.J.) and Billy Wilkens (Kenmore, Wash.). Moore, Nyback and Yap were named to the women's All-Academic Team, along with Maria Jangsten (Gothenburg, Sweden) and Emmy Koskinen (Sodertalje, Sweden).
Head Coach Dan Mecca was also recognized by the conference. He was named MAAC Men's Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year.
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