The St. John’s men’s and women’s track and field teams achieved early success in the spring season. In just their second meet of the spring, the Red Storm traveled to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge for the Paper Tiger Invitational meet. The Johnnies racked up three first places finishes over the weekend.
For the women, Junior Alina Abramova continued her marvelous year, earning two first place finishes in the triple jump and in the long jump. Abramova set a personal best in the long jump with a jump of 6.03m that qualified her for the Big East Championships, ECAC’s and NCAA Championships. In the triple jump, Abramova earned a score of 12.32ma, also a first place finish.
In other women’s events, sophomore Charlene Sealy finished fourth in the 800 meters, clocking a time of 2:18.46. Shernette Hyatt-Davis earned two top 10 finishes, placing third in the 200 meters with a time of 25.28 and a seventh in the 400 meters with a time of 58.73. Also earning a top five finish in the
400 meters was freshman Kay-Dian Reid, clocking a time of 57.56.
On the men’s side, junior Dewayne Barrett continued his assault on the competition, placing first in the 400 meters with a time of 47.40, good enough to qualify him for the Big East Championships and to beat an LSU 400 meter team who were NCAA Champions last season. “Dewayne beat all four of the LSU defending NCAA 4X400 champions. They are four of the best quarter mile runners in the country, so it was simply incredible,” said St. John’s Head Coach Jim Hurt. Barrett also qualified for the Big East Championships in the 200 meters, clocking a time of 21.78, placing tenth overall.
Other notable performances were junior Mohammed Kanu, who placed fourth in the 400 meters with a time of 48.54. Also, graduate student Jason Goulart continued his stellar year placing second in the hammer throw with a toss of 184’11” that qualified him for the Big East Championships.
After the solid performance, Hurt had many things to smile about. “Pretty good meet for those guys, who are the best we have and they have traveled around the country and have been able to compete with such high quality competition. I’m proud of them.”
St.John’s will be faced with numerous meets over the course of the next few weeks, but after such a solid start, the Storm looks like they will be able to have a productive and strong outdoor season.
