NEW YORK -- The men's and women's track teams opened up their indoor campaign today at the NY Armory at the Ramapo College Season Opener.

The women shined by taking home three first place honors which helped them place fifth out of 15 teams in the competition scoring 56 points. The men's team had some solid performances including several podium finishes and the team finished 10th out of 19 teams with 24 points.
 
Junior Dominique Groguhe started the meet off right by winning the women's weight throw with a mark of 14.43 meters (47' 4 ¼") and to add to her already successful day, she returned in the afternoon to capture third place in the shot put with a toss of 10.44 meters (34' 3'). The second victory of the day came from sophomore Elizabeth Driscoll who vaulted 3.04 meters (9 feet 11 ¾") and won the event with fewer misses than her competition. Towards the end of the meet senior Sophia Manners captured the win in the 3000 meters in a time of 10:10.58 which betters her best indoor performance of a year ago. 

Rachel Schaaf earned two medals this meet off her second place performance in the triple jump with a mark of 11.31 meters (37' 1 ¼") and her fifth place in the long jump at 5.04 meters (16' 6 ½"). Two additional athletes placed fifth, with freshman Maria Laverde running 2:27.06 in the 800 meters and senior Maya LaRosiliere throwing 12.41 meters (40'8 ¾") in the weight throw.
 
On the men's side the scoring was led by senior Dillon Aryeh with his second place finish in the 800 meters in 1:55.61 bettering his previous indoor best. In the men's long jump, freshman Cole Blair started his career strong with a third place jump of 6.66 meters (21' 10 ¼"). Next to score for the men was Bo Lynett with his flight over the high jump bar at 1.72 meters (5' 7 ¾") that was good for 6^th place.

Three of the men took home seventh place honors with junior Zach Williams running his best time in the 5000 meters at 16:24.12; sophomore Nick Johnson throwing 12.60 meters (41' 4 ¼") in the weight throw; and senior Johna Joseph Jr., running his faster time of the day in the 60 meter dash in the prelims at 7.10 to qualify for the final where he ran a time of 7.12. The last scoring member of the men's squad was freshman Ethan Eisner who placed 8^th in the 400 meters in a time of 52.37.
 
The women had several other athletes compete in the meet. Senior Isabela Cunio placed 16^th in the 60 in 8.67 seconds and 23^rd in the 200 in 28.77. Sophomore Graeson Landsberg was Colgate's lone quarter miler who placed 16^th in 1:07.17. Sophomore Carollin Mellin ran 5:37.24 in the mile to place 11^th overall. Two freshman ran their first collegiate 3k with Kara Shepard in 11:27.08 and Taylor Mitchell in 11:33.58 placing 14^th and 15^th respectively. Lastly in the field events, freshman Ini Oyewusi place 16^th in the long jump with a leap of 3.95 meters (12' 11 ½").
 
Joseph, who scored earlier in the 60 meters, led a trio of men in the 200 with a 17^th place finish in 23.44. Sophomore Ben Krill ran his best time in the 200 meters in 23.68 to finish 21^st and also ran his best in the 60 meters in 7.40 finishing second in the unseeded heat. Ryan Krill finished seven spots behind his older brother with 28^th place in the 200 in a time of 24.22. Another performance in the short sprints today was the 4^th place finish in the unseeded 60 meter dash by sophomore Jayden Jenkins in 7.45. Two other men competed in the 400 meters with Dylan Wehrly placing 11^th in a time of 52.93 and Luca Sturgeon running 55.14 to finish 18^th.

Moving into the middle-distance events, Thomas Richards placed 21^st in 2:07.39 in the 800 meters and newcomers to the squad Ben Horner and Nathaniel Freishtat both ran the mile in 4:30.63 and 5:04.99 to place 17^th and 37^th respectively. Similar to the women, two freshmen took on the 3k and Peter Marks and Rey Perez placed back to back at 10^th and 11^th in 9:41.81 and 9:43.51. Lastly, in the field events, Brandon Williams threw 9.19 meters (30' 2") in the weight throw to finish 17^th.
 
FROM THE SOURCE
"Overall, I am really pleased with our team's effort for the first meet. When you are returning to campus from a long break and you go right into competition as a coach you are not sure what you are going to get. From the distance events, we were really solid. This was highlighted by Sophia Manner's win in the 3k but supported by a number of personal bests and some gutsy performances by our first year male and female students. I really like the fight in this group. Senior Dillon Aryeh had a great early season race in the men's 800. In the sprints, Johna Joseph Jr. advanced to the finals in the 60M running two very good rounds. In the women's field events, Elizabeth Driscoll looked really good jumping from a short approach and taking the win. Dominique Groguhe's win in the women's weight throw set a positive tone for the team as it was the first event of the day. Rachel continues to be very consistent in both the jumps with great early performances. Along with that, Cole Blair's third place finish in the long jump may have been one of the top performances for our first year students on the men's side. We have a lot of work to do but I am happy with our start today for both teams."
 
UP NEXT
The Raiders will host the Class of 32 Invitational at the Sanford Field House on Saturday, Jan. 29, in Hamilton, N.Y.