A day that was marked by temperatures in the 30's and constant wind gusts, the Vikings men's and women's track & field teams were not going to be stopped at the Wesleyan University Spring Classic Invitational in Middletown. Conn. The invitational featured a 16-team field with most of the teams from the New England region, including Sacred Heart, a Division I program.

In the first meet of the 2019 season, the men and women had 19 performances that qualified for the NJCAA Region 3 Championship Meet, which will be held at Hudson Valley on April 27-28. During the entire 2018 season, the program had 21 regional qualifying performances. The Vikings also had four men and two women meet the qualifying standard for the NJCAA Championships in seven events. 

Chris Mannolini-Adams and Elijah Washington both posted three top-6 performances on the day. Chris placed first in the triple jump, third in the long jump, and sixth in the 400m hurdles. Elijah finished second in the javelin with a new personal best, third in the hammer, and fifth in the shot put. 

Jared Craw and Fabian Kendrick also had top-6 performances. Craw finished third in the 800m and sixth in the 1500m. Kendrick finished fourth and fifth in the 110HH and high jump, respectively. 

Several Vikings posted top-6 performances in their first meet of the season. Mark Blahut finished fifth in the 100m.Noah Vice posted a fourth-place finish in the high jump. Ethan Samarija placed third in the 400m and Immanuel Manera had a sixth-place finish in the discus. 

Ashley Martinez placed highest amongst the women's team today with a fifth-place finish in the 400m event. Maejean Dellabarca-Barnes had a memorable first career meet as she broke the school record in the hammer throw on her very first throw of the season. DellaBarca's first career throw in the hammer went 26.61m.  

The Vikings Program is off to a very strong start and is looking to improve when they travel to compete in the Mount Saint Mary's Duals being held at Marlboro High School on Saturday, March 30.  

Below are the list of Men and Women who qualified today for the 2019 Championship Meets