Pomona, NJ – The Spartan men and women track & field teams opened up the outdoor track & field season on a beautiful, sunny day in Pomona, NJ on Saturday. The competition site was nearly surrounded by tall pines, which kept the wind low, but cool; allowing the Spartans, coming out of a frigid winter, to hit solid times.
For the distance women, sophomore Sarah Callagy kicked off the day in the 1500-meter race. Callagy had to fight for position in the first 200 meters of the race, as the rest of the field was throwing elbows, jostling for a good position. As the the field thinned out, Callagy remained in the front pack, maintaining a steady pace. Callagy finished the race extremely strong and clocked a 5:18.09, which is a ten second lifetime best, placing her 4th out of the entire field for that day.
Sophomores Chelsea Klinger and Julia Karl both competed in the 800-meter dash and had similar success. Karl ran a steady race coming in 2nd in her heat, placing 13th overall with a time of 2:40.18. Klinger placed 18th overall with a time of 2:45.04.
Lisa Brevogel, also a sophomore, revisited her high school roots competing in the 3000-meter racewalk and clocked a collegiate best of 16:52.96. Brevogel, a successful racewalker in high school, aims to hit a Penn Relays qualifying standard for this event.
In the throwing circle, Senior Jeanette Gibson placed in the top five in both the discus throw and shot put. Gibson placed 4th in the discus with a throw of 32.47 meters, and placed 3rd in the shot put with a throw of 10.52 meters. This was Gibson’s first time throwing the discus in nearly a year.
On the men’s side, freshman Mike Abelard opened up the day in the 100-meter dash. Abelard felt more accustomed to the outdoor track and showed this as he cruised across the finish of the 100-meters in a blistering 10.98 seconds, an extremely solid time this early in the season. Abelard placed 2nd overall, but was 1st in the collegiate division.
Abelard returned for the 200-meter dash with fellow teammate and senior, Chris Muniz. Abelard and Muniz competed in the same heat, which made for a terribly exciting race. Abelard clocked a time of 21.75 with Muniz close on his heals with a time of 21.79. Abelard placed 2nd and Muniz 3rd, but placed 1st and 2nd in the collegiate division.
Veteran Muniz also competed in the 400-meter dash and clocked a comfortable 49.73, placing 2nd overall.
Junior Vinny Modaferri and Senior Einar Brissing both competed together in the men’s 800-meter dash and packed a solid 1-2 punch. Brissing led the first half of the race with Modaferri following in third. Modaferri eventually overtook Brissing and won the race in 1:57.76. Brissing crossed shortly after clocking a 2:00.85. Junior Dan Nilsen also competed and clocked a time of 2:26.04.