March 28, 2008

Staten Island, NY - Refreshed from a few days in the sun at the Coastal Carolina Shamrock Invitational, the Wagner track & field team is set to host the Wagner Invitational on Saturday, March 29th.

Head coach Joe Stasi has plenty of reason to be walking high on the dawn of the third meet of the season. Freshman sprinter Coleman Edmond (Kingston, NY/Harmony Prep MI) was named last week's Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Week for his IC4A qualifying run of 10.70 seconds in the 100m last week at Coastal Carolina. It's not all about the men either as Stasi has 2007-2008 women's NEC Championships MVP Alaina Alfano (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) in his arsenal.

"These kids have been training extremely hard," said Stasi on the transitional training from the indoor to outdoor season. "Normally the transition is a hard time for some of our athletes, but I am overwhelmed at how hard they are working."

And the tough training has already provided results. Seniors Samantha Snukis (St. Clair, PA/Nativity BVM) and Jocelyn Ford (Neptune, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) had stand-out performances at Coastal Carolina. Senior thrower Crystal Smith's 44.02m throw last weekend was a vast improvement on her 39.98m throw at last year's NEC Championships. One of the most impressive runs came out of the women's distance relay team who shattered the Wagner school record with a 12:24.47 run.

The men's team is also enjoying some early success. The 4x200 relay team has shown incredible strides from the indoor season while the combination of Coleman and Joseph Kinard (Kingston, NY/Kingston) has brought in valuable points in sprints.

Stasi's men are still tending to some injuries but will see the outdoor debut of junior Brian Halling (Amherst, NH/Souhegan)on Saturday. Junior James Johnston (Middle Island, NY/Longwood)has been competing and putting up strong numbers but is still waiting to feel 100% healthy to fully turn it on.

"Everyone just has a great attitude right now," remarked Stasi. "I don't know whether it's the excitement to finally get outside or something in the water, but we are all loving it."

The first event on Saturday will be the hammer throw and is set to kick off at 10:00 AM. The meet will take place at Wagner College Stadium located on Howard Avenue.