St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Metropolitan Championships (Day Two)
St. John's Track & Field Crowned 2017 Metropolitan Champions
2/4/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Follow St. John's Track & Field on Twitter
2016-17 Indoor/Outdoor Schedule
Online Results
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The St. John's track & field team won its second Metropolitan Championship team title in the last three years on Friday evening at the Ocean Breeze Track & Field Complex in Staten Island, N.Y. Behind three event victories by Maya Stephens, the Red Storm won the entire meet with a total team score of 142.5 points, effectively naming them the best of 17 local NYC Metropolitan area schools.
"Our ladies were awesome last night as they battled event after event to scratch out the points we needed to win the championship," said Head Coach Jim Hurt.
As has been the norm all season, Stephens carried the load for the Red Storm and is establishing herself as one of the top sprinters in the Eastern United States. The junior won two event titles in the 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash, and anchored the Red Storm's 4x400-meter relay team to a title. Stephens also claimed a podium finish in the 60-meter dash.
The championship team title was a total team effort as the Red Storm squad scored 25 times in a total of 20 events, came away with 12 podium finishes and won five different events.
With some of the top performances of the season so far, Adriana Wright and Nyla Woods also came away with individual titles in their respective specialty events, the 60-meter hurdles and the weight throw. Sophomore Elizabeth Costantino also contributed major points with two third-place finishes in the 5,000-meter race (18:09.54) and 3,000-meter race (10:17.64).
Anointing Onuoha played a key role with two scoring finishes of her own in the long jump and triple jump.
"Maya Stephens ran race after race and took us to the title. Elizabeth Costantino raced five miles on the day and scored in both the 5K and 3K. Adriana Wright won the hurdles and then scored in the 60-meter dash just five minutes later. Nyla Woods continued her METS domination in the weight throw and led the throws group to a number of personal bests. Anointing Onuoha doubled in the long and triple jump to lead our jumps corps," added Hurt.
The meet got started with the jumps where the Red Storm came up with five scoring finishes in three events. Onuoha placed second in the long jump with a mark of 5.62 meters and was joined in a scoring finish by Erica Graham, who finished sixth with a jump of 5.38 meters.
Onuoha later scored in the triple jump, placing fifth with a mark of 11.05 meters. Shequell Higgs got on the podium in this event with her jump of 11.26 meters for third place.
Julia Schwan placed fifth in the high jump with a mark of 1.50 meters.
Woods captured the first event victory of the day for the Red Storm with her individual title in the weight throw. The Fayetteville, Ga., native won the event with a toss of 17.81 meters, her best toss of the season and the top mark in the BIG EAST. Jennifer Odoemene joined in scoring with a fourth-place finish (15.30 meters).
Freshman Bernadette McGowan enjoyed the biggest success of her collegiate career thus far as she placed fourth in the shot put with a toss of 12.61 meters. Woods also scored in the event, placing fifth with a mark of 12.54 meters.
Keeping up with the season norms thus far, the St. John's sprinters, led by Assistant Coach Aliann Pompey, put up big scoring numbers.Wright won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.65 seconds, her first victory in the event as a member of the Red Storm. Previously this year, Wright has finished second or third in every attempt at the race.
Wright was one of three Red Storm sprinters to reach the finals of the 60-meter dash, effectively coming away with three scoring finishes. Stephens placed third in the event in a time of 7.66 meters and was followed closely behind by Denesha Ransome, who placed fourth in 7.67 seconds.
Stephens won her first event of the day in the 400-meter dash and came away with a 1-2 finish with teammate Raquel Ricketts. Stephens won in a time of 56.17 seconds, followed closely behind by Ricketts who crossed in 56.38 seconds.
Stephens then went on to win her fifth-straight 200-meter dash to begin the season, claiming the 2017 Metropolitan title in the event in a time of 24.35 seconds. Her time ranked 55th in NCAA Division I. Ransome also scored in this event, placing third in a time of 24.97 seconds.
Jasmine Burkett, Shannon Page and Melissa Hidalgo all came away with scoring finishes in the 500-meter dash, 800-meter dash and one mile race, respectively.
After the Red Storm scored in the 4x800-meter relay with a sixth-place finish, it was time for the Johnnies' 4x400-meter relay to seal the 2017 Metropolitan Championship team title.
The relay team of Ricketts, Christine Oguledo, Kafi Ottley and Stephens were up to the task as they won the final race of the evening by more than three seconds, crossing in 3:49.75.
"The meet was tight right down to the final event where on 4x400, anchored by Maya, ran away from the field to salt away the Championship for us! I am very proud of our team's effort and expect us to continue to roll towards a BIG EAST title in three weeks," said Hurt.
Next weekend the Red Storm heads to the New Balance Track & Field Armory for the 110th running of the NYRR Millrose Games. More information, including tickets, about the historic Millrose Games can be found here.
To receive updates on all team news, follow on Twitter @StJohnsXCTF and by using the hashtag #sjutf. To be added to the St. John's women's track & field fans e-mail list send a message to Adam.mckillop15@stjohns.edu with the subject: "St. John's women's TF e-mail."
