April 9, 2008

New Haven, Conn. - Stony Brook's track and field team won five different events and placed within the top five 23 different times at the Quinnipiac Invitational Wednesday in New Haven, Conn.

For the men's team, sophomore Alex Felce (Stroud, England) set a new school record when he crossed first in the mile with a time of 4:11.43 and senior Justin Miller (Smithtown, N.Y.) took first in both the shot put (14.35) and discus (40.51).

On the women's side, sophomore Stephanie Vos (Apalachin, N.Y.) took first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.64 while junior Fisayo Tunde's (Selden, N.Y.) jump of 4.48 meters was good enough for first in the long jump.

The women's other top-five individual finishers included: freshman Kristen Connolly (Massapequa, N.Y.) who took fifth in the mile (5:40.31), freshman Holly Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand) and sophomore Laura Huet (Carrickmines, Ireland) who crossed second (9:40.59) and third (9:42.27) respectively in the 3,000-meter and junior Rosanna Peralta (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) who took third in the shot put (7.64). The women also had three relay teams finish in the top five. Peralta, Tunde, Vos and sophomore Christina Suthakar (West Babylon, N.Y.) combined for a second-place finish in the 4X100 (54.00), Peralta, Vos, Connolly and sophomore Kristen Wilkens (Woodbury, N.Y.) took second in the 4X400 (4:19.81) and Suthakar, freshman Kellyann Moniz (South Hamilton, Mass.), freshman Kristina Doyle (Lockport, N.Y.) and senior Taylor Zaneri (Carmel, N.Y.) crossed fourth in the 4X800 (10:41.43).

The men's team had eight other individuals place within the top five. Junior Merlon Pinnock (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) crossed third in the 400-meter (50.11), sophomore Tim Hodge (Tawa, New Zealand) finished just behind Felce in the mile to take second (4:11.60), sophomore Kurt Wende (Williamsville, N.Y.) placed fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:22.64), senior Mubaarak Muhammad (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) and freshman Alex Raffio (Crugers, N.Y.) took second (5.85) and fourth (5.55) respectively in the long jump, sophomore Robert Treadwell (Glendale, N.Y.) placed second in the javelin (47.30) and senior Robert Dantone (Dix Hills, N.Y.) took second in both the shot put (11.74) and discus (32.09).

They also had three second-place finishes in the relays. Muhammad, Pinnock, Raffio and senior Melvin Genao (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) finished the 4X100 in 45.64, Genao, Pinnock, Muhammad and sophomore Brandon Leung (Rego Park, N.Y.) completed the 4X400 in 3:27.31 and Felce, Hodge, junior Gary Chan (Flushing N.Y.) and freshman Shamell Forbes (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) finished the 4X800 in 7:59.60.

The track and field team will be traveling to Amherst, Mass. this weekend to compete in the UMASS Invitational.