April 14, 2008

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. (April 14, 2008) - The Sacred Heart men's track & field team won seven events on their way to winning the Rider Invitational on Sunday afternoon. The women took home second place and were led by junior Marsha Locke (Danbury, CT) who won two events and finished third in another to lead the way.

The men outdistanced the University of Delaware by just three and a half points to take the first place trophy back to Fairfield. The Pioneers finished with 183 points to the Fightin' Blue Hen's 179.50 in the six team field. The women posted 175 total points finishing behind Delaware who tallied 193 in the six team invite.

On the men's side, senior sprinters Scott Giordano (Hamden, CT) and Arman Dixon (Beacon, NY) both won their respective events. Giordano was the top finisher in the 100-meter dash, clocking in at 10.94 seconds. Dixon was the race winner by over a second in the 400-meters, breaking the tape in 47.22 seconds.

In the 110-meter hurdles, the Pioneers took the top two-spots with sophomore Keith Rowe (Tauton, MA) leading the field in 15.05. Freshman Peter Conti (Mansfield, MA) was right on his heels in second at 15.15. SHU also nabbed the top-two spots in the 3000-meter steeplechase as sophomore Brendan Rickert (Danbury, CT) finished first in 10:35.13 followed by fellow sophomore Matthew Miller (Blauvelt, NY) in 10:31.08. In the 1,500 meters, junior Luis German (Southampton, NY) took second in 3:58.42 followed by fellow junior John Kenworthy (Gloversville, NY) in third in 4:00.33.

In the field, the Pioneers took the shot put and javelin events. Sophomore Thomas Stripe (Mahwah, NJ) won top honors in the shot with a toss of 50'3.25" and then finished third in the discus with a toss of 140'8". Brett Luongo led the charge in the javelin as SHU took the top four spots in the event. Luongo came up with a throw of 186'0". In the pole vault, junior Thomas Hyatt (Hopewell Junction, NY) finished third clearing the bar at 14'3.25".

The Sacred Heart women piled up the points in the field led by Locke who won the shot put with a throw of 47'11.25", took the discus with a heave of 138'9" and was third in the hammer throw with a throw of 152'0". Fellow senior Lenahndem Tankeng (Yonkers, NY) was right on Locke's heels with a second place in the shot put (40'7.0") a fifth place in the discus (118'2") and second in the hammer throw (152'00").

Sophomore Bonnie Kilis (Marlborough, CT) took home first in the javelin throw with a toss of 123'7", besting her closest competitor by nearly 10 feet. Kilis finished third in the long jump (15'1.25") and was fourth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:05.65). Fellow sophomore Brittany Dexter (Ballston Lake, NY) took her usual spot at the top of the high jump results, winning at a height of 5'5". She also faired well on the track, finishing third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.36. Senior Brianne Hudak (Corinth, NY) finished third in the pole vault clearing a height of 10'00" and finishing fourth in the high jump with a height of 4'11".

Senior Melissa Kostan (Salem, MA) won the 400-meter hurdles by clocking in at 1:01.65. Kotsan also anchored the Pioneer's 4x400 meter relay team that took second in a time of 3:56.77. Joining Kotsan was Kilis, junior Sarah Hyatt (St. Albans, NY) and sophomore Sarah Tencza (Succasunna, NJ). Tencza finished third in the 800 meters with a time of 2:19.05. Freshman Stephanie Kanner (Coram, NY) took third in the 400-metes in 1:00.46 while fellow rookie Angelica Johnson (Little Ferry, NJ) was third in the 100 meters (12.57) and fourth in the 200 meters (26.13).