STATEN ISLAND, NY (Jan. 12, 2024) - Georgian Court Track and Field was in action for the first time in the New Year. The Lions competed at the Spartan Invitational, hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas and held at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island, NY. Georgian Court had a smattering of athletes compete in the first meet since winter break and saw mixed results. 

Men
Throws
• The Lions had two in the top-five in the shot put competition. Robbie Babson was the Lions highest finisher taking second place. His best mark came on his fifth throw which traveled 52-0.75. Babson had a consistent day with all three of his legal marks coming within eight inches.
• Moving into the Lions top-10 list was Malicah Etienne. He threw 50-7 for a personal-best and becomes the sixth Lion to ever throw 50 feet in the shot put. He's now sixth all-time indoors for GCU. Etienne's big throw was his best of the day by nearly two feet.
• Competing for the first time in the shot put for GCU was Anthony Lorenzo. He finished in 38th place throwing 33-5.5. 
• Those same three also threw the weight. Babson had another top-10 finish by throwing 45-5, putting him eighth.
• Etienne picked up his second PR of the day throwing 36-9 and placed 30th. Lorenzo was in 34th place with his mark of 33-9. 

Jumps
• GCU had two top-10 finishes in the jump. Raphael Wolf placed 10th overall jumping 21-4.75. That personal-best puts the freshman seventh all-time in the event in Lions history.
• Finishing in seventh place in the pole vault was Julian Rodriguez. Rodriguez cleared 12-8.25.

Sprints
• On the track, GCU had three sprinters competing in the 60m dash. Raphael Wolf led GCU running 7.36 for 42nd place.
• Wayne Robinson wasn't face behind running 7.39 for 45th place. Joshua Tipaldo placed 88th in 8.01.
• In the 400m, Marcos Murillo-Benavides crossed the line in 53.99 for 41st place and Nicholas Jordan was 57th in 57.39
• Running the 500m, Sean Donnamaria took 33rd place with a time of 1:15.19.
• Two Lions finished the afternoon on the track in the 200m. Andrew Moore ran 23.22, good for 29th place and Seth Powell took 66th in 24.20. 

Distance
• Kyle Spector ran the mile for the first time in nearly two years. The senior ran 4:27.30 which isn't far off of a lifetime best. He placed 20th in the competition.
• Ryan Pettrow did set a lifetime-best running 4:31.86 for 32nd place. That time puts him eighth in Lions history for the event.
• Thomas Rosky was the Lions third competitor in the event. He placed 61st running 4:58.94.
• Joseph Jamolawicz represented GCU in the 3,000m. He took 40th place overall finishing in 10:03.26.

Women
Track
• Two Lions set new personal-bests in the 500m. Amirah Beasley led the way for GCU running 1:22.74 which put her in 12th place. It also moves her up the Lions all-time top-10 list into seventh all-time.
• Behind Beasley in the race was Madalin Jones who cut nearly five seconds from her personal-best running 1:33.12 for 34th place.
• There were no finals in the 60m hurdles and dash, but if there were, Shalom Adzakro would have qualified. She finished in seventh place in the 60m hurdles running 9.79.
• In the 60m dash, Samantha Lonseth placed 61st running 9.27.
• Molly Burns ran the 200m dash and was 44th in 29.09. 

Field
• Two Lion throwers set personal-bests in the weight throw. Chiamaka Wokocha threw 36-6 and Sabrina Halk had a mark of 32-3. Both improved their marks by more than four feet from the season opening meet in December. Wokocha finished in 26th place while Halk took 33rd. 

Georgian Court is right back here at Ocean Breeze next Friday for the NYC Gotham Cup.