STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The Saint Peter's men's and women's track and field teams put together a series of competitive performances at the Metropolitan Championships on Friday at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex. The Peacocks saw multiple top finishes, highlighted by Graduate Student Delano Gooden's first-place victory in the men's 60m dash and a runner-up placement in the women's 4x200m relay.
A total of 14 schools competed in the meet, including Fordham, St. John's, FDU, Manhattan, Rowan, Iona, Ramapo, NJIT, Saint Peter's, Essex CC, LIU, Hofstra, Columbia, and Wagner.
Women's Highlights
The Peacocks' top relay finish came in the 4x200m, where the team of junior Karilynn Jimenez, senior Diamond McLaughlin, freshmen Samyah Wilson, and Shania McDuffie clocked 1:43.93 to take second place, a new 4x200m season-best, just behind St. John's (1:43.65).
McLaughlin finished sixth in the 500m dash (1:18.62), Fordham's Sara Labor won the event in 1:15.71.
In the 200m dash, McDuffie won her heat and hit a personal best with a time of 26.05 and placed 10th overall. St. John's Chinenye Onourah won the event in 24.67. Wilson followed in 22nd (26.78), with junior Shanelle Vilson (27.26), senior Balikis Iyiola (28.79), and sophomore Kamia Boykin (29.75) rounding out the event.
Freshman Ana DeVries placed fifth in the pole vault (3.00m), where Colette Metcalf of St. John's took first (3.30m).
In the triple jump, freshman Adriana Rollins finished sixth (10.69m), while fellow freshman McKenzie Johnson placed 11th (9.72m). The event was won by Fordham's Alexandra Manetovic (11.62m).
In the shot put, junior Ciara Brown placed fourth and hit a personal best (12.57m), with teammates freshman Alyana Meador (10.87m, 13th) and sophomore Kennedy Vaughn (10.01m, 19th) also securing top-20 placements. Jamora Alves of St. John's won the event with a throw of 15.20m.
As a team, the Saint Peter's women finished ninth overall with 23 points. St. John's claimed the women's team title with 247.50 points.
Men's Highlights
Gooden dominated the 60m dash, winning the event with a time of 6.85 seconds. Freshman teammate Ameen Zubair reached the finals, finishing sixth overall (7.11) after placing eighth in the prelims (7.07).
Gooden also placed second in the 200m (21.88), finishing behind Njaminaweh Abdul Latif of Fordham (21.41).
In the 500m dash, sophomore Connor Ziolkowski took fifth place (1:05.58), while Essex CC's Mehdi Guerrah won in 1:03.85.
In the 800m, junior Elijah Kiboma placed eighth and hit a personal best (1:58.43), with Fordham's Rodolfo Sanchez winning in 1:54.23.
In the long jump, sophomore Amari Campbell secured a second-place finish (6.99m), just behind Manhattan's Thomas Dubnov Raz (7.12m). Sophomore teammate Temiloluwa Adesetan placed 10th (6.31m), and freshman Tamir Burney-Laberth (19th, 5.88m) also competed in the event.
The 4x200m relay team of Adesetan, Campbell, Zubair, and freshman Dylan Williams finished fourth in 1:29.47, with NJIT taking first (1:28.51).
The 4x800m relay team of Ziolkowski, Kiboma, Michael Amaker, and freshman Ajani Peck-Wekunda placed fifth (8:28.21), with Fordham winning in 7:47.76.
As a team, the Saint Peter's men finished fifth overall with 47 points. Fordham claimed the men's team title with 180 points.
Link to results, click here.
Up Next:
Building on their performances at the Metropolitan Championships, the Peacocks will turn their attention to their next competitions. The men's 4x400m relay team will compete at the prestigious Millrose Games at the NYC Armory on February 8, while the rest of the team returns to Ocean Breeze for the Big Apple Invitational the same day.
For continuing coverage of Saint Peter's University Athletics, visit SaintPetersPeacocks.com and follow the Peacocks on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
