St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Hurricane Alumni Invitational
Red Storm Middle Distance Shines At Hurricane Alumni Invitational
4/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
April 11, 2015
QUEENS, N.Y. -- A middle distance double by freshman Izzi Batt-Doyle and host of other impressive performances worthy of the program's all-time lists highlighted a successful day for St. John's track & field team's at the University of Miami Alumni Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla., on Saturday.
Batt-Doyle marked her second outing of the young outdoor season by claiming victory in both the 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter runs, both in times than rank top-3 on the program's all-time performance lists. Batt-Doyle began her afternoon by besting a field of 15 runners in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:31.88, third-fastest in school history. The freshman's winning time from Saturday is less than three seconds off of St. John's outdoor 1,500-meter record of 4:29.18 set back in 1984. Completing a top-two sweep for St. John's in the event was junior Stephanie Van Pelt, who clocked a runner-up time of 4:34.10, the fourth-fastest time in program history.
Batt-Doyle completed a fine mid-distance double by clocking a time of 9:50.62 in a convincing victory in the 3,000-meter run, outpacing her closest competitor by more than 30 seconds. Batt-Doyle is now the second-fastest competitor in the outdoor 3,000-meter run in St. John's history and is within five seconds of the school record set in 1999.
In the 800-meter run the Red Storm placed three runners in the top-10, as freshman Marlow Schulz led the charge with a fifth-place finish reached in a seasonal-best time of 2:10.70, sixth-fastest in program history. Van Pelt, meanwhile, followed up her runner-up finish in the 1,500-meter run by placing seventh in the 800 with a time of 2:13.37, while senior Veronica Thompson was ninth in 2:15.65.
St. John's placed three athletes in the top-12 places of the 400-meter dash. Juniors Pariis Garcia and Raquel Ricketts were fifth and sixth, respectively, with near identical times of 55.04 seconds and 55.07 seconds, with Ricketts recording a seasonal best effort. Finishing 12th in the same event was senior Nastasya Rodriques who clocked a time of 56.82 seconds.
Garcia was also St. John's top finisher in the 200-meter dash, as the junior clocked a seasonal-best time of 24.77 seconds to finish 17th out of 54 competitors. Finishing one place behind in 18th was classmate Shenika King, who clocked a personal-best time of 24.81 seconds as a heat winner, while senior LaTasha Collins was also under the 25-second barrier with a 22nd-place finish reached in 24.93 seconds. Also competing in the 200-meter dash were Ricketts who placed 26th in 25.13 seconds, freshman Maya Stephens who ran 25.18 seconds for 28th and freshman Julia Schwan, 37th in 25.96 seconds.
In the 100-meter hurdles, freshman Chenoa Sebastian led the St. John's effort with a run of 14.67 seconds to claim 13th. Schwan and sophomore Shequell Higgs placed 18th and 19th, respectively, in the same event with times of 15.97 seconds and 15.98 seconds, while senior Radiya Buchanan was 21st in 16.14 seconds. In the 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Christine Oguledo was the Red Storm's lone competitor in the event and finished ninth with a time of 1:04.63.
Competing in the same heat of the 100-meter dash, Collins and Stephens finished one hundredth of a second of each other, the senior taking 16th overall in a very competitive field with a time of 12.11 seconds while the freshman was 17th overall in 12.12 seconds.
In its first run of the season, St. John's 4x400-meter relay team placed third in a fast early-season time of 3:42.87, with Garcia, Schulz, Ricketts and Rodriques comprising the Red Storm squad. In the 4x100-meter relay, meanwhile, the team of King, Buchanan, Schwan and Oguledo placed sixth in 47.47 seconds.
In the field, Higgs was seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 11.24 meters, while Buchanan was 10th in the same event with a mark of 10.64 meters.
St. John's will complete a split-squad weekend on Sunday as the Red Storm competes in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Eight-Way Meet in Kings Point, N.Y.
