In the midst of the Olympic buzz in Turin, St. John’s Kaydian Reid was busy claiming the gold in the 500 meters of the Big East Championship. Reid finished the race a full two seconds ahead of her closest competitor, setting a new school record.
The championships were held at the Athletics Field House in Akron, Ohio. Reid’s time of 1:11.04 not only broke the 26-year-old St. John’s record, but also set a new best for the Athletics Field House. Reid earned All-Big East honors along with her gold.
Reid then followed up her performance by anchoring the women’s 4×400 meter relay, as she and her teammates Vanessa Sessa, Maxcine Foster, and Thalene King easily claimed first place, setting another record for the Athletics Field House and finishing ahead of second-place Connecticut by more than three seconds.
Blessing Egwu also won silver at the indoor championships, in the 20-pound weight throw competition. Egwu’s throw of 19.00 meters warranted her All-Big East honors.
Women’s Tennis
St. John’s was handily defeated by host Penn State, 6-1, on Sunday in State College, Pa. Alison Adamski was the only winner in either singles or doubles for the Red Storm (2-3), defeating Leyla Morzan at the No. 4 spot.
A day earlier, 64th-ranked Marshall dropped the Storm by the same 6-1 margin at Penn State. Once again, Adamski was the lone winner for St. John’s at No. 4 singles.
Men’s Tennis
St. John’s was defeated by Manhattan College, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon in Riverdale, N.Y. The Red Storm (2-1) got singles wins by Louis Desmarteaux, David Nylen and Claudio Halim. The doubles pair of Halim ad Morgan Bauer were also winners.
The Red Storm was in action Saturday as well, toppling Georgetown, winning six out of seven matches in Washington, D.C. St. John’s served up a win in each of the three doubles matches it played, and lost only one singles match. Desmarteaux, Nylen, Bauer, Tom Green and Aliksandr Svetlakov all won their singles matches. The duos of Desmarteaux and Svetlakov, Nylen and Green, and Bauer and Halim were doubles winners.
