The Iona University men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams participated in six meets after completing the Ramapo Season Opener on Jan. 19.
Starting with the Dr. Sander Columbia Challenge from Jan. 26-27, senior Matt Rankin and graduate students Jadyn Tabois and Lachlan Wellington were the men’s top performers for the match.
Tabois bolted his way to a first-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.38, which was .39 seconds ahead of the University of Connecticut’s Mekhi Stone. Iona freshman Cameron Washington offered a solid showing as well, finishing 22nd and second in his head of the race.
While neither Rankin nor Wellington captured the 3,000-meter victory, they reached the end a mere five seconds behind the eventual winner, Travis Martin, from UConn.
During the mile run, graduate student Nick Soldevere registered a sixth-place finish in 4:04.24, a career-best, which was tops among Gael performers. Aiden Coles, Damien Dilcher, Joshua DeSouza, Scott Fagan, Tristan Coles and Jonathan DeSouza rounded out the top-20.
Senior Holly Smith capped off the women’s mile run in a career-best 4:53.76 time, good for fifth place, while rookie Lily Overton ended up in 13th. Fellow rookie Claragh Keane was the only other Gael from the women’s team to land within the top-15 of an event, running the 5,000-meter in 17:24.67.
Iona’s next competition came in the form of the Metropolitan Championships, held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y., on Feb. 2.
Four Maroon and Gold runners, Tabois, Washington, Jordan Providence and Jeremy Scott posted a combined 3:19.88 effort in the 4×400-meter relay, placing them second behind Fordham University and ahead of Saint Peter’s University. The stellar time was good enough to qualify for the IC4A Championships.
Individually, junior distance runner, Caleb Deane, was the top performer, scoring a fifth-place spot in the 1,000-meter. This event marked a personal best time of 2:32.40 for Deane and was also classmate Peter Fogarty’s first indoor 1k with Iona.
Providence fell just shy of a bronze medal effort in the 200-meter dash, owning a respectable time of 22.24, only .07 off from the third-place contestant.
Sophomore Tayla Gunton nearly stole gold for Iona women in the mile run, registering a swift 5:01.00 time, following .17 seconds after Fordham’s winning competitor. Gunton’s time also placed her within rare air among Iona runners, as it is the eighth-best in Gael history.
Three Gaels ended up within the top-11 of the 800-meter, including junior Megan Sterbenz in fourth at 2:18.53.
The track and field team will stick around in Staten Island for a few more days, as they are set for action at the Fastrack National Invite on Feb. 9 before a trio of Boston outings.
