VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Rutgers men’s and women’s track and field teams continued competition on day two of the BIG EAST Track and Field Championships on Saturday, May 2, in Villanova, Pa. The men’s squad is currently in fourth place with 35 points, while the women tallied 11 points for 11th place.
Louisville leads the men’s standings with 104 points followed by Connecticut and Notre Dame in a tie for second place with 37 points. The Cardinals also pace the women’s team scores with 79 points, while Notre Dame sits in second (54 points) followed by Cincinnati in third with 34 points.
Highlighting the Scarlet Knights’ performance on Saturday was a 1-2-3 finish in the javelin led by junior Jeremy Pennino (Watchung, N.J.) who was coming off a victory in the event at the Penn Relays. Pennino recorded a throw of 215’ 10” to take top honors. Senior Brandon Burkhardt (Dallas, Pa.) and sophomore Christopher Bradley (Nutley, N.J.) occupied the remaining two spots on the podium with Burkhardt finishing second (212’ 5”) followed by Bradley in third (197’ 2”).
Freshman Adam Bergo (Plainfield, N.J.) added to Rutgers’ point total with a runner-up showing the high jump as he cleared a height of 6’ 11 3/4”. Freshman James Plummer (South Toms River, N.J.) wrapped up the points in the field events with a sixth-place finish in the discus, throwing 160’ 8”.
Advancing to the finals in the track events are seniors Kyle Grady (East Brunswick, N.J.), Bruce Owens (Wenonah, N.J.) and freshman Ellis Mensah (West Orange, N.J.). Grady ran a time of 14.47 in the 110-meter hurdles and Owens clocked a 21.19 200-meter sprint. Mensah went 48.47 in the 400-meter.
On the women’s side, freshman Alex Kelly (Florham Park, N.J.) placed third in the javelin, throwing 147’ 1” to pace RU’s performances. Senior Jessica Bandy (West Keansburg, N.J.) also competed in the event and finished seventh, throwing 142’ 3”/
In the long jump, sophomore Jamie Walker (Lawnside, N.J.) placed seventh with a leap of 18’ 7”. Throwing the discus was junior Natalie Clickett (Union City, Pa.) who finished eighth, recording a mark of 144’. She also competed in the shot put placing ninth, throwing 46’2”.
Senior Cheyenne Ogletree (Garfield, N.J.) ran 4:33.12 in the 1,500-meter run to advance to the finals on Sunday. Also moving on to the third day is sophomore Latoshia Bost (Crofton, Md.) who clocked a time of 55.40 in the 400-meter, while junior Michelle Gomes (Orlando, Fla.) will compete in the 200-meter after running 24.24 in the preliminaries.
The Scarlet Knights will return to action on Sunday, May 3, for the final day of the BIG EAST Championship.
