The Iona Gaels track and field team got the 2022 season off to a running start at the Armory on Jan. 15.  

The men’s team found success across the board. In the 60-Meter, redshirt freshman Jordan Providence earned a fourth-place finish, while senior Prince Forson earned a seventh-place finish. The two were the second and third collegiate finishers in the event, respectfully.  

In the 200-meter, sophomore Jadyn Tabois finished third while senior Kevin Fullerton finished seventh. Tabois was the second collegiate finisher in this event.  

The 800-meter saw senior Ehab El-Sandali finished fourth in a close race where he was a little more than a second behind the first-place finisher.  

Finally, for the 4×400-meter relay, Iona finished seventh as junior John Conroy teamed with Tabois, Fullerton, and Forson.  

Conroy, who was on the 2021 team that finished second in the 4×400-meter relay at the MAAC Championships, believes that the best is yet to come for the squad. 

“With four weeks to go from the MAACs, we’ve made a lot of progress already.” Conroy said in an interview. “We’re going to continue to improve with every practice and every meet.”  

Tabois, a sprinter that has gold medals to his name already, spoke on how he wants to earn more for himself this season and would like to see the team have complete success.  

“I think as a team, we have a really good chance to get a lot of different medals, with gold being the main goal.” Tabois said. “Personally, I would like to bring home at least one gold for indoor. I’m excited to see everything come together.”  

The women’s team was also successful in their events. In the mile, redshirt freshman Madison Klein finished third as she was less than three seconds from the race winner. Redshirt sophomore Maya Richardson was fifth overall while freshman Kate Sherman was 13th in a race consisting of 27 runners.  

Freshman Kedarjah Lewis finished first in her heat and fourth in the qualifying round in the 60-meter. She also competed in the long jump where she came in sixth while posting the second longest jump in Iona women’s indoor history.  

The 800-meter had senior Olivia Lazarou earn a top 10 finish as she was eighth in the event.  

Junior sprinter Bria Otaman, who has been a MAAC All-Academic Team honoree the previous two seasons is excited to continue working with the strong roster.  

“Comparing our season to last year, I believe that we can be top three in the MAAC rankings thanks to the new talent and the improvement of the returning talent,” Otaman said.  

Richardson is also looking forward to seeing what this team can accomplish.  

“Based on our team performances, I can already tell this will be a successful season.” Richardson said. “We’re just getting started.”  

The Gaels will look to add on to their impressive track and field resume that has produced Olympic athletes. The acclaimed program has seen the men’s cross-country team capture 31 straight MAAC Championships while the women previously won six straight.  

The season is far from over and the Gaels will have a lot of time to capture more hardware this spring.