ALLENTOWN, Pa. (April 6, 2024) – Sophomore Danny Jutras and graduate student Ronnie Melao finished first in the 800 and the steeplechase, respectively to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology men's outdoor track and field team Saturday at the Muhlenberg Invitational at Scotty Wood Stadium.

For the second straight event, Jutras set a new personal best in the 800, topping the field in 1:56.48. Since his first attempt at the event at last year's Stockton Invite, Jutras has trimmed nearly 10 seconds off his time. Saturday's mark moved Jutras into second place in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) standings.

Melao, meanwhile, ran the second-fastest steeplechase of his career, winning Saturday's race in 9:42.84. Melao now possesses the fastest time in the conference to date. 

The meet actually began one day prior with the hammer throw, making its debut in a new on-campus facility. Senior Colin Keady placed fourth to lead the Ducks' competitors in the event, reaching 45.73 meters on his sixth attempt to set a new collegiate best, surpassing his mark from last season's conference championship meet. Keady also competed in the discus, finishing 15th with a mark of 32.86 meters. 

The Rundown

• Senior Federico Yacoubian took part in his first 110-meter hurdles event of the season and placed third with a time of 16.69 seconds. The time moved the Denville, New Jersey native into seventh place in the conference.
• Junior Xavier McWilliams posted the second-best 400-meter hurdles time of his career, finishing second in 58.69 seconds. He narrowly missed a new personal best by seven-hundredths-of-a-second. 
• In his first collegiate steeplechase, first-year Ryan Paradine placed fourth with a time of 9:59.99. He is now ranked fourth in the MAC.
• A pair of Ducks: sophomore Kyle Miller and first-year Chris Persico each posted a top-five finish in the pole vault. Each competitor successfully cleared 3.65 meters and Miller was credited with a second-place finish based on fewer attempts. Persico finished third. 
• The triple jump saw two first-year Ducks finish in the top-five. Justin Gajewski placed third after reaching 12.56 meters on his second attempt. Joshua Lim, meanwhile, took fifth with a mark of 12.18 meters on his fourth attempt. Additionally, Lim would finish sixth in the high jump, clearing 1.75 meters and Gajewski increased his distance in the long jump for the third straight meet, reaching 6.03 meters on his first attempt to finish ninth.

Top Performers

• First-year Doug Winant completed his first career 100-meter dash and posted a time of 11.58 seconds to finish ninth. Sophomore Connor Robinson was right behind Winant, reaching the finish in 11.67 seconds to place 10th.
• Junior Rai Bindra completed his first outdoor 400 in nearly a calendar year and finished ninth with a time of 55.40 seconds. 
• Senior Liam Concannon placed eighth in the 1500, crossing the finish line in 4:10.99.
• Sophomore Mick Barbi joined Robinson in posting a top-10 finish in the 400-meter hurdles. In his first collegiate race in the event, Barbi placed eighth with a time of 1:01.62. Robinson finished ninth in 1:04.64, albeit from a different heat than McWilliams and Barbi.
• Sophomore Cooper Kinsley and first-year Aidan Greene each finished in the top-10 in the shot put. Kinsley placed fifth with a distance of 11.20 meters on his second attempt, while Greene was eighth after touching 10.22 meters on his third try. Kinsley also reached 37.45 meters in the hammer throw to place seventh.
• The javelin also saw two Ducks place in the top-10. Junior Braedan Joyce was the highest finisher, placing fifth with a distance of 44.09 meters to post his second-longest collegiate toss. Sophomore Brandon Kiefer was ninth with a mark of 40.33 meters.

For the Opponents

• Hosting Muhlenberg won seven events. David Steel took first in the 1500 with a time of 4:02.34, while Jaden Snow won the 110 hurdles in 16.33 seconds. Jack Reichenbach took first in the high jump with an impressive height of 2.03 meters, while also winning the long jump with a mark of 6.93 meters. Michael Powell topped the field in the shot put with a mark of 14.12 meters on his final attempt, while Dylan DeMagistris won the hammer throw with a toss of 53.74 meters on his fifth attempt. Noel House won the javelin with a mark of 61.79 meters on his first attempt to round out Muhlenberg's event winners. 

Around the Middle Atlantic Conference

• DeSales was the lone conference school that joined Stevens at Muhlenberg's event. Weston Simak won the triple jump with a mark of 13.15 meters on his final attempt to lead the Bulldogs, while Lens Demosthene was second with a distance of 12.17 meters. Logan Berner also placed second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.54 seconds. Sidney Walker took second in the long jump (6.82 meters) to round out the DeSales' top finishes.

Up Next

• Men's Outdoor Track & Field hits the track for two different events this week. First, the Ducks will head to southern New Jersey for The College of New Jersey's Invitational and Multi Meet. The four-day event runs from Apr. 11-13. Second, the Ducks will head north to New London, Connecticut on Apr. 12 for the first day of the two-day Silfen Invitational, hosted by Connecticut College.

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