Track & Field Set for Friday's Fastrack National Invite
2/11/2016 1:18:00 PM | Track and Field
NEW YORK – The Columbia track & field teams will return to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Friday for the Fastrack National Invite.
The meet marks the fourth time this season the Lions have competed in Staten Island. This time around, Manhattan College will serve as the host.
On the men's side, a bevy of runners will take part in the 800m, 1 Mile, and 3K races.
Two rookies that will see the track in the 800m tomorrow have already ran under 1:52 this season. At the Penn State National, Alek Sauer clocked in a 1:51.67 for third place, while Josiah Langstaff has a season-best of 1:51.82 when he claimed fifth at last Saturday's Villanova Invitational.
The 1 Mile race will see the return of Robert Napolitano, who holds the second best time in school history in the event. The junior owns a 4:00.64 career-best, second only to Kyle Merber's 2010 effort of 3:58.52. Spencer Haik, who joined Napolitano to become an Ivy League Champion in the 4x800m relay at the Indoor Championships a season ago, will also take part in the 1 Mile, with a career-best of 4:04.99 to his name.
A total of 12 runners are signed up currently for the 3K run, including senior Tait Rutherford, who owns a career best of 8:04.57 at that distance.
The men have also put together a strong 4x400m relay team of Ronald Busby, Yelnats Calvin, Johnathan Sowah and Corey Hammond, as Busby, Calvin and Hammond will additionally run the open 400m.
For the women, a total of 10 athletes are entered in the 800m run, led by some of the top performers in the Ivy League a season ago.
During her sophomore campaign, Brittney Wade posted the fourth fastest time in school history with a 2:09.79 in the 800m run, while then first-year Sarah Hardie was an indoor conference champion in the 1K run last year. The pair will join first-year Libby Kokes in the 800m, as Kokes currently owns the fastest 1 Mile run in the NCAA by a rookie.
While Kokes may be skipping out on the 1 Mile, senior Olivia Sadler will be able to fill that void as she edged her younger teammate in the event last time out. At the Villanova Invitational, Sadler crossed the line in 4:43.58 in second, while Kokes claimed third in 4:43.98.
The Columbia school record holder in the 60m hurdles will once again take part in her best indoor event, when Iris Chijioke comes out of the blocks on Friday. Two weeks ago at the Ramapo College Indoor Select, Chijioke took the tape in 8.57 seconds, not far off her school record of 8.46 from a season ago.
Players Mentioned
