Richards, Rogombe Capture Titles at Florida Relays

Friday, March 29

Gainesville, Fla.

All day

Rutgers University

Florida Relays

Photo by: Lon Horwedel

Richards, Rogombe Capture Titles at Florida Relays

Mar 30 | Women's Track & Field

Results

Freshman Reanda Richards Logs Top Time in the Nation With First Place 400m Hurdle Performance

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Freshman Reanda Richards logged the top time in the nation in capturing the 400m hurdle title, while redshirt junior Rhonda Rogombe tied for the seventh best height in the East Region with her high jump title to highlight the Rutgers women's track and field results at the Florida Relays.

Richards, who set the third fastest time in the Rutgers record book in the 400m hurdles in her Scarlet Knight outdoor debut last weekend, raced to the second fastest time in RU history with a first place time of 57.21. The only other Scarlet Knight with a faster 400m hurdle finish is Lori McCauley who set the Rutgers and then-American record of 55.69 at the National Sports Festival in 1982.

The freshman Scarlet Knight, who hails from Roseland, New Jersey, set a time that is currently the fastest in Big Ten, NCAA East Region and nation.

Rogombe, meanwhile, was .01m shy of tying the Rutgers outdoor record in the high jump in her first place performance. The Charlestown, West Virginia product cleared the bar at 1.78m (5' 10") just short of the record of 1.79m (5' 10.5") set by Kimberly Fife at the Colonial Relays in 1999. Rogombe, who holds the Rutgers indoor high jump record at 1.80m, set new personal best for an outdoor season showing.

The mark by Rogombe places her name, second in the Big Ten, tied for seventh in the East Region and tied for 11^th nationally.

Rutgers also saw another top performance by senior Jenna Sobieski in the 800m. The Old Bridge, New Jersey native set a new PR with a time of 2:06.91 with the 13^th place finish in the event marking the second fastest time in the Rutgers logs. Only Dominique Sanon has captured a faster time for the Scarlet Knights with her time of 2:06.59 set at the NCAA Regional in 2006.

Sobieski's time puts her fifth in the Big Ten, 14^th in the East Region and 20^th nationally.

The Scarlet Knights also had a top eight and ECAC qualifying finish by a pair of relay teams and sophomore Courteney Campbell in the high jump.

The distance medley relay team of placed sixth collecting a time of 12:14.77.

The 4x800m relay squad of combined for an eighth place finish in 8:50.86.

Campbell, meanwhile placed eighth with a height of 1.70m (5' 7").

The Rutgers women's track and field team's outdoor season continues with the Sam Howell Invitational hosted by Princeton on April 5-6.

FLORIDA RELAYS RESULTS
100m
35. Oniesha Clarke – 11.97 (ECAC Qualifier)

400m
52. Phyllis Gordon – 57.36

800m
13. Jenna Sobieski – 2:06.91 (ECAC Qualifier)

1500m
36. Kiera Nealon – 4:41.93

400m Hurdles
1. Reanda Richards – 57.21 (ECAC Qualifier)

4x100m Relay
45. Rutgers – 47.12 (ECAC Qualifier)

4x200m Relay
27. Rutgers – 1:39.74

4x400m Relay
18. Rutgers (Kayla Jackson, Arianne Strunkey, Ajae Alvarez-Tyler, Phyllis Gordon) – 3:46.08 (ECAC Qualifier)

4x800m Relay
8. Rutgers – 8:50.86 (ECAC Qualifier)

Distance Medley Relay
6. Rutgers – 12:14.77

Long Jump
20. Oniesha Clarke – 5.14m (16' 10.5")

High Jump
1. Rhonda Rogombe – 1.78m (5' 10") (ECAC Qualifier)
8. Courteney Campbell – 1.70m (5' 7") (ECAC Qualifier)

Javelin
11. Alexa Gardner – 43.19m (141' 8") (ECAC Qualifier)
19. Kathryn Campbell – 40.64m (133' 4")

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersWomensTF) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/Rutgers_WomenTF) for all of the latest news and updates. Fans also receive timely information, including special offers at www.ScarletKnights.com.

-RU-