Jan. 22, 2022

The Basics

• The lead: Sophomore Dhavan Antala qualified for the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship in the 800 to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology men's track & field team at the Winter Invite, hosted by Alvernia University.
• Location: Tom and Helen Flynn PLEX - Reading, Pa.
• Short Story: Competing in his first indoor 800, Antala won his heat by nearly one minute, while placing ninth overall, with a time of 2:04.94. The time is the seventh-fastest in the MAC this season. Antala later completed his first indoor mile in a time of 4:42.81, which ranks 13th. He also ranks second in the 500.
• The Score: Team scores were not compiled

Top Finishes

• Sophomore Jake Aylmer ran his debut in the 3000, finishing in 9:14.46, which is the fourth-fastest time in the MAC to date. Junior Ronnie Melao also ran his first indoor 3,000 and finished right behind Aylmer with a time of 9:16.39, which is good for fifth in the conference. 
• First-year Mason Brewster made his debut in the 5,000, finishing fourth with a time of 16:45.64. Classmate Tim Griffin also made his collegiate debut in the same race, finishing eighth with a time of 17:14.65.
• The Ducks' 4x200-meter relay team of sophomore Christopher Rodriguez, graduate student Danny LaMastra, junior Steven Hoang and first-year Rai Bindra finished third with a time of 1:37.90, winning their finals heat in the third-fastest time in the conference to date.
• Senior Nicolas Re placed second in the pole vault, clearing 4.25 meters. He remains atop the MAC pole vault leaderboard with a height of 4.46 meters, which ranks sixth in the region.

Key Performances

• Rodriguez posted a MAC-qualifying time of 7.45 in the 60-meter dash preliminary heats in his first indoor race in the distance. Sophomore Christian Rath also made his collegiate debut in the event, finishing in 7.77 seconds. First-year Cullen Grady also made his collegiate debut in the race (8.68 seconds).
• First-year Xavier McWilliams along with sophomores Liam Concannon and Jake Porco all ran their debut race at 800 meters, and junior Troy Tomasch made his season debut. Tomasch was the top finisher in the group, finishing fifth in his heat with a time of 2:07.56. McWilliams also competed in the 60-meter hurdles, where he posted a MAC-qualifying time of 9.57 seconds, which ranks 16th in the conference.
• Sophomore Bryan Onody finished second in his heat in the mile, finishing in 4:57.10. The race was his indoor debut at any distance. 
• In his first indoor 3,000 in nearly two years, senior Cory Philippe narrowly missed a personal best, finishing the race in 9:49.42.
• Junior Philip Szkudlarski made his indoor track & field debut in the 5,000.
• Senior Jonathan Scamardella (1.80 meters) and junior Kevin Finck (1.75 meters) each posted top-10 high jumps. 
• Junior Hikmat Sabeh posted a MAC standard distance of 11.96 meters in the triple jump in his first meet in nearly two years.

From the Blocks - Head Coach Lance Harden

• "The Tom and Helen Flynn PLEX at Alvernia is a gorgeous facility that will again host our MAC Indoor Championships at the end of February, so we benefited from reacquaintance and familiarization with the venue. We had 11 of the 18 MAC teams competing this weekend along with great AARTFC programs like TCNJ and Susquehanna, and our team was exposed to the high quality of our conference. It was important for our runners to get a feel for a flat track after two meets on the bank at The Armory."
• "Chris Rodriguez set an indoor personal best in the 60-meter dash to qualify for MAC's. He also led off our 4x200-meter relay, which won the third heat by over two seconds and placed third overall. All four legs—which included Danny LaMastra, Steven Hoang, and Rai Bindra—looked their best this season."
• "Jake Aylmer and Ronnie Melao competed well in the 3,000, mixing it up with the lead pack and earning qualifiers for the conference meet (and a big 18-second PR for Ronnie). Mason Brewster had a 10-second personal best en route to placing 4th in the 5,000."
• "After a multi-hour delay in the pole vault due to solar glare, Nicolas Re returned to competition with two-straight first attempt clearances. He was poised to continue going higher, but the pole vault mat surrounding the box was overhanging and disrupting the path of his pole during the plant. Unfortunately, this equipment malfunction was not corrected until after his third attempt."
• "Dhavan Antala had an indoor personal best en route to winning his heat of the 800 and qualifying for the MAC meet."
• "Andrew Anantharajah cleared his first two bars of his college career in pole vault. Jorge Mascaro also had his first clearance of the season."
• "Liam Concannon had lifetime bests—indoor or outdoor—in the mile and 800."
• "Xavier McWilliams had a personal best in the 60-meter hurdles to qualify for MAC's and then ran his debut 800 race."

Up Next

• Men's Track & Field heads north to Rochester, New York on Jan. 29 for the Conference Challenge, hosted by Nazareth College.

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