New York, N.Y. - The Georgian Court University Track & Field record book was obliterated Saturday as the GCU men & women opened the 2018-19 indoor campaign, establishing eight team marks, with appearances in both the TCNJ Winter Opener (NYC Armory) and the Fastrack Metro Season Opener (Throw Events only) in Staten Island, N.Y. (Ocean Breeze Complex).
Women
Two long-established team records were erased from the women's ledger:
Aretha Edwards had quite the collegiate debut as the freshman eclipsed the team mark in the 60m Dash not once, but twice, with a finish of 7.79 seconds in the preliminaries (3rd), followed by a time of 7.74 (3rd) in the finals.
The previous high-water mark of 7.83 seconds was established by
Susan Lora back on Feb. 23, 2013 at the ECC Championship Meet.
Lyric Green also made history as the junior hopped, skipped and jumped to a new Triple Jump record with a distance of 11.75m, taking first-place in the process. The effort erases the previous-high of 11.74m, set by
Octivia Booker on Feb. 21, 2015 at the ECC Championships, and provides the junior with a national qualifier.
The Georgian Court women also made their presence felt in the throws competition in the Fastrack Opener.
Samantha Smith (14.31m) and
Stephanie Bock (13.93m) finished one-two, respectively, in the Weight Throw, while
Michelle Almeida took second overall with a Shot Put toss of 11.37m.
Men
On the men's front, an eye-popping six team records crumbled:
Charles Wolef-Fields, in his first action with the Lions, eclipsed the team record in th 60m Dash with a finish of 6.98 seconds, good for fifth-place in the preliminaries. The time bests the previous high of 7.21 seconds, set by
Jalen Hunter on Feb. 21, 2015 at the ECC Championship meet.
Not to be outdone, fellow freshman
Ian Knapp etched his name in the GCU annals with a time of 35.76 seconds in the 300m Dash, topping the time of 36.24 accomplished by
Michael Rogers back on Dec. 7, 2014 (Princeton Invite).
Coming off a stellar All-CACC cross country campaign,
Hussein Elmeshad carried that momentum into Saturday, breaking the team record in the 1,000m Run with a finish of 2:36.80. The previous best of 2:37.37 was set by
Jhonathan Matamoros on Feb. 21, 2015 in the ECC Championships.
Devin Martin joined the party with his time of 8.52 seconds in the 60m high hurdles, erasing
Jalen Hunter's 8.61 (Molloy College Invite, 2/13/15).
In field action,
Evan Boyce tied his own team-high of 4.46 meters in the Pole Vault.
Dylan Breen, another freshman sensation sporting the royal & gold, placed fourth in the Long Jump with a record-breaking leap of 6.83 meters. The distance tops the mark of 6.63, set by teammate
Kennedy Omari last January (1/19/18) at the NYC Gotham Cup.
As for the Triple Jump, three Lions topped the previous-team high of 13.50 meters, set by Omari on Jan. 12, 2018 at the STAC Spartan Invite.
Jeshurun Devero paced the team with his second-place leap of 14.09m. Martin (3rd) and
Dashawn Lamar-Baldwin (4th) followed with marks of 13.95 and 13.77, respectively.
The Georgian Court gentlemen also enjoyed a trio of first-place finishes on the day.
Chukwuebizie Anuamadi paced the field with a time of 51.37 in the 400m Dash.
Troy Bass led the pack in the Weight Throw as the junior launched a 14.84m effort.
In the Shot Put,
Ryan Roger (16.01m) and
William Goldsborough (15.59m) provided the one-two punch atop the standings.
Georgian Court returns to action Friday with an appearance in the Wagner College Shootout, hosted by the Ocean Breeze Complex.
