The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

Women’s track impresses in Pennsylvania

Over the weekend, the St. John’s Women’s Track team competed alongside seven other teams in the Penn 8-Team Select. The meet was held at Ocean Breeze Track & Field Complex and the University of Pennsylvania hosted.

Along with Penn the Johnnies faced off against Wagner, Stony Brook, Iona, Manhattan, St. Joseph’s, and Rutgers.

In the Penn 8-Team Select, St. John’s placed second overall. This was an improvement on their third-place finish at the Great Dane Classic.

Maya Stephens, a junior on the team, has taken first three times in a row in the 200-meter dash. She recorded a season best with this win, clocking a time of 24.29 seconds. She led her team with the help of fellow junior Nyla Woods and the 4×400-meter relay team.

“We had another good meet as Nyla Woods won the weight throw, Maya Stephens won the 200-meter dash, and our 4×400-meter relay won, all with seasonal bests,” Head Coach Jim Hurt said. “We held our own in the running events as we posted some improved performances from a week ago. We also battled in the jumps to put up some points there.”

Woods collected her second win of the season in the weight throw after achieving a seasonal best of 17.61 meters. Her teammate, Jennifer Odoemene came in at fifth with 14.88-meter mark.

Adriana Wright finished in second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.43, improving on her third-place finish from the Great Dane Classic. Wright also placed second in the 60-meter hurdles finishing with a time of 8.61 seconds. The winner was decided by photo finish.

The Johnnies beat out Rutgers in the 4×400-meter relay by a slim margin. The team, made up of Christine Oguledo, Raquel Ricketts, Kafi Ottley and Arnelle Thomas, won the race by less than a second.

St. John’s finished second with 79 team points. They ended the meet with 12 scoring finishes and seven podium appearances, according to redstormsports.com.

Coach Jim Hurt and his team remain confident in their chance for a championship at the 2017 Indoor Metropolitan Championships.

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