BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
Monmouth Univers-ity school records took a tumble at the Penn State Relays.
Hawk athletes broke five school track and field records at the meet held in State College, Pa.
Matawan’s Chris Keller had a hand in one of the records – the weight throw relay. The ex-Husky star was second overall in the weight throw, reaching 59-6. Teammate Larry Lundy (Friendsville, Pa.) was eighth (57-0). Their combined efforts of 116-6 smashed the old school mark by nine feet. Both attained IC4A qualifying marks.
Ryan Connell (St. Peter’s Prep) was seventh (54-4).
Keller was 10th in the shot put (49-7). He was one of four Hawks to place in the top 10.
Nick Williams (Adamstown, Md.) was third overall in the shot put with a throw of 54-0, and Kyle Hirschklau (Morristown) was fifth at 51-1. Their total mark of 106-3 1/2 was a new MU record.
Lunny was eighth (49-9) in the shot put.
On the track, Fabrice St. Elme (Rahway) was third in the 55-meter dash and achieved an IC4A qualifying mark in the process.
The Hawks’ 55-meter relay squad of James St. Bernard, (Markham, Ontario, Canada), Chris Taiwo, Josh Burnett (Deptford) and Dave Martell (Eastern) was first in a school record 25.93.
St. Elme teamed with St. Bernard, Taiwo and Martell to turn in the second fastest time in Hawk history in the 4×200 (1:30.28) while finishing fifth.
Ashley Huffman (South Setauket, N.Y.) was the star for the Hawk women. She posted a qualifying time for the IC4A in the 55-meter hurdles (8.25) and anchored the women’s 4×55 relay to a school record (29.29) in finishing second.
Deana Paulson (Washington Township), Shannon Alston (Midland Park) and Latasha Leake (North Burlington) ran the opening three legs. Paulson was seventh in the 55-meter dash (7.44).
Paulson, Leake, Brittany Gibbs (Old Bridge) and Huffman turned in the second best 4×200 in school history (1:48.03) in finishing sixth.
The busy Huffman also took second in the long jump (18-2). For her all-around performance at Penn State, the senior was named the Northeast Conference Track Athlete of the Week.
In the field, Nikki Zwartjes (Burlington) was fourth in the pole vault (10-4). Gibbs set a Monmouth freshman record in the triple jump (37-2) while taking fourth place overall. Teammate Marykate Walsh (Woodbury) did 32-9, and combined with Gibbs’ mark, the 69-11 was another Hawk record.
Leake high jumped 5-2 to take sixth.
Saturday at the Great Dane Classic at the NYC Armory, Matawan’s Latasha Dickson won the 500-meter dash in 1:15.12, helping the Hawk women finish fourth overall. Jackson Memorial grad Asha Ameth was fifth in the 800 meters (2:19.71).
Huffman continued her fine form qualifying for the ECAC Division I championships with a 19-0 3/4 long jump that got her a second place. The versatile senior was third in the 55 hurdles (8.26) and fourth in the 200 (25.44).
Zwartjes broke the school record in women’s pole vault, clearing 11-3 3/4. That was good enough for third place.
Freshman Laura Embrey, from Shore Regional, was fifth in the 1,000 meters (3:08.48).
For the men, the throwers dominated action at the Great Dane, placing four in the top eight in both the shot put and weight throw.
Williams was second in the shot put (56-1) to lead the Hawks in that event (Keller was seventh, 51-11, and qualified for the IC4A).
In the weight throw, Keller won with a big 61-9 1/2. Ed Skowronski (Raritan) was second (60-2 1/2) and qualified for the IC4A.
Chris Vuono (Christian Brothers Academy) won the 500 (1:03.73) and David Gaines (Colts Neck) was seventh in the 800 meters. Craig Segal (Holmdel) was fourth in the 3,000 (8:37.39).