St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Hurricane Alumni Invitational Day Two
Maya Stephens Claims 400-Meters at Hurricane Alumni Invitational
4/8/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
QUEENS, N.Y. - In the final of two trips to sunny Miami, the St. John's track and field team finished strong at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational over the weekend.
The two-day event, hosted by the University of Miami, brought together many of the top colleges from around the country, including Harvard, Connecticut, Syracuse, St. John's, and others.
Maya Stephens continued to be dominant for the Johnnies during her outdoor campaign, leading the Red Storm with a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash. Her time of 52.86 was a new career best in a St. John's uniform for the Canadian, finishing nearly an entire second ahead of the competition. The senior also finished 16th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.31.
Denesha Ransome also eclipsed a new career-best time, posting a 12.05 in the 100-meter dash for 16th. The senior topped her section in the finals and the mark also qualified Ransome for the ECAC Championships.
Continuing a parade of top times was Leah Anderson who posted a pair of career bests in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. The freshman tallied 13th in the 200-meter, finishing as the top competitor from St. John's in the event, with a time of 23.94. Moments later, Anderson followed with a fifth-place mark in the 400-meter at 55.22 to become the second Red Storm to finish inside the top five.
Moving into the jumping events, the theme continued as a trio of student-athletes also finished with career-best days.
Freshman Antonia Frazier continued her solid debut campaign with a pair of top times in the 100-meter hurdles and the heptathlon. Frazier finished 20th in the hurdles event with a time of 15.05 and followed with an 11th-place mark in the seven-tiered event with a career best 4,183 score. The rookie finished in the top-10 in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, steeplechase, long jump, and javelin throw in the event.
Chenoa Sebastian became the third senior to eclipse a new benchmark with a career-best time in the 400-meter hurdles. The senior posted a 1:04.23 to finish 13th and just missing the top-10. Sebastian also grabbed a 19th-place mark in the 100-hurdles event.
Torisha LaForce completed the jumping trifecta with another career highlight in the 400-meter hurdles. The junior narrowly edged out her teammate Sebastian with a 1:04.21 time, good for a 12th-place finish and new career best.
Kafi Ottley joined LaForce, Sebastian, and Anderson in the 4x400-meter relay event and just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish. The 3:48.86 time was an ECAC qualifier, finishing second among schools in the region.
In the field events, Erica Graham finished as the highlight of the meet for the Johnnies with another career best. The senior posted a 5.78-meter mark in the long jump to finish eighth and qualify for the ECAC's. Graham's top jump came on her final of the day and finished just two tenths of a meter from a top-five mark.
Anointing Onuoha posted back-to-back 10th-place finishes in the long and triple jumps for the Red Storm.
Nyla Woods and Jennifer Odoemene both performed well in the throwing events, finishing seventh and 12th, respectively, in the hammer throw. Woods' best mark of 54.52 came on her final toss of the day and is an ECAC qualifier.
Eboni Birch became the final competitor to set a new career best, finishing eighth in the heptathlon with 4,241 points. The junior's fourth-place finish in the steeplechase was the highlight of the day while reaching the top-10 in five of the seven events.
St. John's will return to action on April 13 and 14 for the Metropolitan Outdoor Championships in Piscataway, N.J.
Players Mentioned
