St. John’s Finishes Day One of the BIG EAST Outdoor Championship in Fifth Place

St. John’s Finishes Day One of the BIG EAST Outdoor Championship in Fifth Place

5/10/2019 7:02:00 PM | Women's Track and Field

Day One Results (PDF)Saturday’s Track Heat Sheets (PDF)Saturday’s Field Heat Sheets (PDF)Watch on BEDN

Day two of the conference championship is slated to resume on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at Icahn Stadium

By: Dylan Smith

QUEENS, N.Y. (May 10, 2019) – The St. John's track & field team wrapped up its opening day in fifth place at the BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held at Icahn Stadium in Queens, N.Y., on Friday.

            The Red Storm has accumulated 34 points after day one. Villanova leads the pack with 145 points, followed by Marquette's 107 points, Butler's 63 points, and DePaul with 57 points.

            Senior Jennifer Odoemene earned the Johnnies' first medal of the weekend in hammer throw, earning the silver after setting a new personal record with her 55.72 meter toss. Along with her senior counterpart, freshman Ashley Walsh threw a seventh-place mark of 43.81 meters. Samantha Morillo hurled a ninth-best 40.66 meter toss at Icahn Stadium.

            Rookie sensation Ja'Tae Joyner, who picked up her first career BIG EAST medal in the long jump at the Indoor Championships, finished in fifth place with a top jump of 5.42 meters. Freshman Amanda Belgrave posted an eighth-place mark in her first BIG EAST Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a top leap of 5.37 meters.

            Teammates Esmeralda Reyes and Bernadette McGowan excelled in the javelin competition as well, ranking in second and fifth place respectively, ending the day with throws of 42.79 and 39.03 meters. Senior Eboni Birch also scored points for the Johnnies in the javelin with her best distance of 35.07 meters.

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

            Three Johnnies excelled in the 200-meter dash preliminaries, led by sophomore standout Leah Anderson. The Mount Vernon, N.Y., native posted her second-best mark of the season with a time of 23.94 seconds, good for first overall heading into the finals. Destiny Davis completed a fourth-place time of 24.43 before Skyy Diop sprinted to the finish in eighth at 25.11. The St. John's trio vies for a spot on the podium with an anticipated 1:50 p.m. start time on Saturday.

            Chenoa Sebastian shined in both the 100 and 400 meter hurdles preliminary rounds, qualifying for both final events. In the 100 meter hurdles, the graduate student placed in eighth place with a time of 14.92. Soon after qualifying in her first event of the afternoon, the North Stonington, Conn., native ran the 400 meter hurdles in 1:03.50, good enough for fifth place and a spot in tomorrow's championship race.

            Kafi Ottley just missed the cut in the 200-meter race with her career-best finish of 25.35, placing tenth in the competition. However, the junior sprinter will compete in the 100-meter final. The three-year sprinter posted a seventh-place time of 12.40 in her heat. Ottley is slated to race for the gold medal at 1:00 p.m.

            The remaining St. John's field athletes will take the stage at Icahn Stadium on day two. Amarys Berry will get her first look at this year's championship meet in the discus throw, alongside Najeaya Singleton, Odoemene and Morillo.

            Ja'Tae Joyner and Amanda Belgrave are slated to compete in the triple jump at noon while Antonia Frazier and Eleftheria Christogeorgou hop into the mix on the final day as both Johnnies are set to compete in the high jump at 2:00 p.m.

            Anderson, Ottley, Diop, and Sebastian will compete in the 4x400 meter relay on Saturday. The Johnnies' foursome leads the BIG EAST pack with a time of 3:43.19 set at the Stanford Invitational on March 29. Along with the 4x400 meter, Head Coach Jim Hurt will send Joyner, Davis, Diop and Anderson to Icahn Stadium to bring a set of gold medals back to St. John's. The 4x100 squad also holds the best time in the conference, posting a 46.12-second time at the historic Penn Relays on April 25.

            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.