BOSTON, Mass. – The Manhattan College track & field team got off to a good start at the ECAC/IC4A Indoor Championships from Boston University's Track & Tennis Center on Saturday. Three Jaspers qualified for finals on the track, while Mohamed Koita (Cergy, France) and Ida Virdebrant (Nobbelle, Sweden) both contributed to Manhattan's team score by placing among the top eight in the high jump.
Saturday's action on the track at both the IC4A (men) and ECAC (women) Championships consisted of preliminary heats, with three Manhattan men moving on to race on Sunday. Greg Perrier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) was the top qualifier in the 800 meters. He notched a time of 1:51.17. Mikael Rojeras (Sala, Sweden), the defending champion in the 1000 meters, registered a 2:24.00 clocking, the second-fastest time of the day and faster than his winning time in 2013. Rojeras finished second in his heat, but was the No. 1 time qualifier for the final. Also reaching the finals was Sheldon Derenoncourt (Patchogue, N.Y.) in the 500 meters. His time of 1:03.76 was sixth overall.
In the men's high jump, the final was held on Saturday, giving Koita one last tune-up before next weekend's NCAA Championships. His best effort was a leap of 2.09 meters (six feet, 10¼ inches), which put him in a tie for fourth place. With that effort, Koita secured four team points for the Jaspers' total.
On the women's side, Virdebrant cleared 1.75 m (5'8¾) on her third attempt to tie Connecticut's Natasha McLaren and Coppin State's Deandra Daniel for first place in the high jump. All three competitors then had three misses at 1.78 m (5'10). Since those were the only misses for both McLaren and Virdebrant, they advanced to a jump-off and Daniel was credited with third place. Both jumpers were successful on their fourth attempt at 1.78 m, meaning the bar went up to 1.81 m (5'11¼). McLaren cleared that height while Virdebrant did not, giving McLaren the gold medal and Virdebrant the silver.
Virdebrant earned eight team points with her second-place showing. Other Jaspers women turning in strong performances were Bianca Marten (Waiblingen, Germany), who was 12th in the triple jump (11.80 m, 38'8¾), and Lydia Wehrli (Anieres, Switzerland), who took 13th place in the weight throw (16.52 m, 54'2½).
Competition concludes on Sunday with the three finals on the track. Manhattan will also be represented in each of the five field events scheduled (men's and women's long jump, men's and women's shot put, men's pole vault).
