St. John’s Ties for Third after Day One of BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships

Friday, February 22

Geneva, Ohio

St. John's University

BIG EAST Indoor Championships Day One

St. John’s Ties for Third after Day One of BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships

2/22/2019 6:38:00 PM | Women's Track and Field

Day One BIG EAST Championships Results St. John's BIG EAST Championships Schedule Day Two BIG EAST Championship Program

The Red Storm takes home two silver medals and has four sprinters make the final cut

GENEVA, OHIO (Feb. 22, 2019) – The St. John's track & field team wrapped up its opening day tied for third place at the BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships, held at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio on Friday.

            The Red Storm has accumulated 26 points, tying Butler after day one. Villanova leads the pack with 71 points, followed by Marquette with 54.

          Weight thrower Jennifer Odoemene earned the Johnnies' first medal of the weekend with a distance of 17.85 meters, good for silver. Along with her senior counterpart, freshman Ashley Walsh threw a fifth-place mark of 16.49 meters. Samantha Morillo broke her personal record, tossing the 20-lb weight a seventh-best 16.17 meters at SPIRE Institute.

            Rookie sensation Ja'Tae Joyner picked up her first career BIG EAST medal in the long jump. The Bowie, Md., native leaped 5.47 meters to snatch the silver medal from Marquette's Breanne Marchan. Joyner edged out the Golden Eagles' jumper by 0.04 meters in her second-place finish.

            Earning two of St. John's 23 points was sophomore Antonia Frazier, who finished the pentathlon in seventh. The Tucker, Ga., native scored 3,115 total points and posted three top-five finishes, including a third-place distance of 5.27 meters in the long jump.

            Four St. John's sprinters clinched a spot in the finals of three disciplines to compete for the conference gold.

            The Red Storm swept the first round of the 200-meter dash preliminaries, led by sophomore standout Leah Anderson. The Mount Vernon, N.Y., native posted her best mark of the season with a time of 24.20 seconds, good for first overall heading into the finals. Destiny Davis posted a second-place time of 24.80 before Torisha LaForce sprinted to the finish in third at 25.30. The St. John's trio vies for a spot on the podium with an anticipated 1:40 p.m. start time on Saturday.

            Skyy Diop just missed the cut in the 200-meter race with her career-best finish of 25.54, placing ninth in the competition. However, the first-year sprinter, along with Anderson, will compete in the 400-meter final. The Red Storm duo posted times of 56.64 and 55.82 in their respective heats. Diop and Anderson are slated to race for the gold medal at 12:40 p.m.

            St. John's Destiny Davis qualified for her second final of the BIG EAST Championships after crossing the finish line at 7.87 seconds in the 60-meter dash, just 0.01 seconds faster than Butler's Lily Hess (7.88) to solidify her chance to run in the final. The Mobile, Ala., native is set to race at 1 p.m.

          The remaining St. John's field athletes will take the stage at the SPIRE Institute on day two. Amarys Berry will get her first look at this year's championship meet in the shot put, alongside Bernadette McGowan, Ashley Walsh and Samantha Morillo. The Hackensack, N.J., native paced the BIG EAST in the 2018-19 campaign with a distance of 14.52 meters. The Johnnies' four throwers launch into action at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

            After racking up her first BIG EAST medal in the long jump, Ja'Tae Joyner looks to break her triple jump personal record for the fourth-straight meet, starting at noon. Joining the freshman standout in the sand pit will be Amanda Belgrave and Winona Peace.

            Antonia Frazier, Esmeralda Reyes and Eleftheria Christogeorgou hop into the mix on the final day as all three are set to compete in the high jump at 2:15 p.m.

            The final events of the 2019 BIG EAST Indoor Track & Field Championships are the 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relays. Both St. John's relay squads came into the weekend with the top times in the the conference. The 4x400-meter team of Anderson, LaForce, Diop and Kafi Ottley posted the conference's best finish of 3:44.63 at the 112th NYRR Millrose Games. The Red Storm's 4x800-meter quartet of Stephanie Gerland, Kayla Parker, Shannon Page and Jackie Gallagher recorded their BIG EAST-leading 12:55.78 time at the Metropolitan Indoor Championships, edging out Iona by 0.05 seconds. These last two meet events are slated for a 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. start, respectively, before the awards ceremony at 3:40 p.m.

            St. John's is slated to kick off its final day at the conference championships at 11:30 a.m. with the shot put. The BIG EAST Digital Network will broadcast for the second-straight day, beginning at 11:15 a.m.