NEWARK, NJ– The Saint Peter's track and field team celebrated Senior Day at its final home meet of the season this afternoon at the Ronald L. Rice Sports Complex in Vailsburg Park. Joined by LIU, FDU, and Essex County College, the Peacocks closed out the home slate with strong showings across the board on a sunny spring day.
WOMEN'S HIGHLIGHTS
Ayanna Paige opened the day in the long jump, landing a personal-best 5.30m on her second attempt to finish third overall. LIU's Kayla Britt won the event with a PR of 5.43m, and FDU's Yakira DeRouen followed closely behind at 5.42m.
McKenzie Johnson also competed, recording a 4.40m on her final jump.
The wind picked up during the triple jump, where
Adriana Rollins soared to a wind-aided 10.87m (+3.7), placing third overall. LIU's Shayla John secured the win with an 11.30m (+2.8), while DeRouen took second at 11.28m (+1.1), just two centimeters off the top mark.
In the shot put,
Ciara Brown,
Kennedy Vaughn, and
Alyana Meador represented SPU. Brown finished second out of seven athletes, hitting 12.35m on her third attempt—just under five feet shy of first. FDU's Nilaja Wiltshire claimed the win with a 13.83m effort, while unattached LIU athlete Faith Shaw rounded out the top three at 11.97m. Vaughn and Meador each recorded their top throws on their first attempts, with Vaughn at 10.27m and Meador at 9.70m.
The 100m hurdles featured an all-SPU field.
Mikell Dolo edged out
Balikis Iyiola by just 0.1 seconds, crossing the finish line in 16.01. Rollins followed in third at 17.11.
Shania McDuffie sprinted to a commanding win in the 100m, finishing in 12.57—over 0.40 seconds ahead of the next runner. LIU's Alessandra Pastor and FDU's Tata Coulibaly tied for second at 12.98. Iyiola and
Kamia Boykin also competed, with times of 13.41 and 13.76, respectively.
MEN'S HIGHLIGHTS
Amari Campbell was one of two Peacocks to earn first-place finishes on the day, winning the long jump with a mark of 6.70m.
Temiloluwa Adesetan took third at 6.48m. FDU filled out the standings with Justice Hicks (6.64m, 2nd), Zander Romero (6.08m, 4th), and Joshua Joji (5.32m, 5th).
Michael Amaker debuted in the 1500m and crossed the line second in 4:19.78, sandwiched between FDU's Sam Szczepanski (4:14.91) and Ekuyami Conteh (4:22.53). Saint Peter's also saw new personal and event debuts, with
Brendan Heaney running a PR of 4:31.42,
Solomon Dunham clocking 4:49.07, and
Elijah Kiboma finishing in 5:09.79.
In the 400m, FDU's Christian Mercado won in 50.25. Essex CC followed with Ayotunde John Ayodele (50.36, PR), Chazz Alexander (50.59), and Sanjay Weeks (51.85).
Ajani Peck-Wekunda and
Ryan Fernandes ran for SPU, finishing in 54.23 and 55.32, respectively.
The 800m featured the largest field of the day, with nine runners.
Elijah Kiboma came within a second of first place, taking second in 1:59.94. Essex CC's Daniel Barton edged him out with a 1:58.81.
Gerardo Quaglia finished sixth in 2:04.08, and
Nicholaus Michael closed the event for SPU at 2:10.92.
UP NEXT
The Peacocks have a short break before returning to action at the Morgan Legacy Invitational, hosted by Morgan State University on April 18–19. Events will begin at 9 a.m. at Hughes Stadium in Baltimore, MD.
For continuing coverage of Saint Peter's University Athletics, visit SaintPetersPeacocks.com and follow the Peacocks on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
