Track Runs Wild at CTC's as Two Relay Teams Qualify for ECAC's, Wersan Wins CTC Crown
Galloway, N.J. - The men's and women's track and field teams competed at the CTC Championships this past weekend and had some terrific results, including two qualifications for the upcoming ECAC Championships and one CTC championship for the men.
The two-day meet started off Friday evening with two amazing races. The men's 4x800m relay team of Jon Afanador, Mario Mayen, Kevin Sanders and Brian Wersan started the scoring by coming from behind and winning. In the leadoff leg, Afanador weaved through traffic and handed off in third to Mayen. Mayen tracked down the two runners ahead of him by the first lap and gained a nice lead for Sanders. Sanders was passed by two teams but fought to keep it close as Wersan then outpaced the field, passed the leaders with 200 meters to go, and would not give up the lead. The team broke the SJC school record by 40 seconds and easily qualified for the ECAC's.
Riding the wave of that impressive performance, Mary Cipriano, Caitlyn Ryan, Kelly Roberts and Megan Lavery combined to place fourth and break a five-year-old school record in the 4x800 by nearly two minutes. Cipriano led the way as she ran a personal best and kept the pack close. Ryan closed in the final 200 allowing Roberts to pass into fourth place until the end where she was passed back. Lavery then ran an aggressive leg to pass back into a fifth place finish.
Ashley Arquer completed the Friday night competition by placing fourth in the long jump.
The next day the Eagles saw no slowdown in putting up great performances. The men's 4x100m relay comprised of Mayen along with Erik Haughn, Evan Mohammed and Tim Elgort, squeaked in for an eighth place finish.
Wersan came from behind and outkicked the field to win the men's 800m, just missing an ECAC qualifier, but breaking his own SJC record and capturing the CTC crown in the event. Afanador came from the second heat to place fourth. Mayen then finished seventh overall in the 400m, missing the ECAC qualifier by a quarter of a second.
After watching ECAC qualifiers just out of reach, the men stepped up to the line of the 4x400m relay. Mayen led the team breaking the stagger in the last 200 meters. He then handed off to Sanders who took the leg out hard, finding only one person ahead of him, and took off the second 200 meters and handed to Afanador in first place. Afanador fought hard in his leg but was out paced by a better Montclair State runner. Afanador kept it close for CTC champ Wersan, who flew down the back straight looking for the win. However, Wersan's impressive 49.5 second split was not enough to hold off the 400m CTC champion from NJIT, who over took him in the last few steps of the race. The performance was still enough for the quartet to qualify for the ECAC meet.
The men's 4x400 relay team will compete at the prestigious Penn Relays Carnival on Friday, where they will see some of the best collegiate competition in the nation.
