Track and Field Breaks Two School Records at Fitchburg Meet
CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-416-2137 or 518-629-7898
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, April 20, 2019
The weather at Fitchburg State University was less than stellar as it rained for the whole day, but it would not stop the men and women of Hudson Valley. In the invitational style scoring meet, with the top-8 scoring points (10,8,6,5,4,3,2,1) the men finished third with a total of 136 points behind Fitchburg State (DIII, 136.50pts) and Franklin Pierce (DII, 159pts). The women finished in seventh place out of a total 17 teams.
Mercedes Planavsky ran for a first-place finish and in the process, she broke her own school record that she had set a couple weeks ago in the 1500m. Planavsky finished the race with a final time of 5:10.00. Mercedes' time bumped her to the third fastest time in the 1500m in the NJCAA the season.
For the second time this spring, the women's hammer throw record has been broken. Maejean Dellabarca-Barnes broke the record in the first meet of the season. Today, at the last meet of the season, teammate Jasmine Minick-Seldon broke the record with a toss of 26.86m, good enough for a seventh-place finish. Jasmine and Maejean both rank sixth and seventh, respectively in the NJCAA rankings. Alexis Holmes had a solid day as she placed in the top-8 in all three of her events: Javelin (6th), Discus & Shot Put (7thPlace).
The men's team showcased their talents early in the meet as Rutchlor Louis, Rasheed Teasley, and Jericho Sylla swept the top-3 spots in the long jump. Louis extended his regional leading to 6.71m.Daniel Foley for the second week in a row bettered his college personal best in the 400m Hurdles, he won the event on Saturday with a Region 3 leading time of 1:00.39. Elijah Washington took the top spot in the men's hammer, and also added a second-place finish in the shot put with a new personal best throw of 13.52m. Jared Craw dropped 7 seconds in the 1500m for a new personal best time of 4:16.27, 3rdplace. John Acker a third-place finish in the high jump with a leap of 1.70m, this was Acker's first competition in the high jump.
The men and women return to action this weekend as they are hosting the NJCAA Region III Track & Field Championships. This will be the first home competition in over 20 years. The men are reigning champions and are looking to defend their title. The women will be vying a top finish at this year's meet. Action is set to begin at 12:30pm Saturday and 9:30am on Sunday.