cabrini athletic departmentSenior Lauren Deas spoke on behalf of her fellow women’s track and field athletes when asked how the College of New Jersey Invitational meet went on Saturday, April 12.
“It is still early in the season.”
Head coach James Williams agreed with his senior runner.
“It was a good day, but certainly not a great one,” said Williams.
Still early indeed, but that did not stop the team from performing well at the meet, scoring several top-10 finishes.
Sophomore Christiana Taylor posted two NCAA qualifying times in both the 100 and 200 meter runs.
Her time in the 200 meter of 25.04 was good enough to grab the current fifth place spot in the nation.
Deas spoke highly of Taylor’s performance over the weekend.
“Christiana ran two great races, good for qualifications in both,” Deas said. “She had a really good meet.”
As for herself, however, Deas was the first to admit she didn’t exactly run the race of a lifetime, at least for her own standards.
Deas completed her 100-meter run in a time of 12.04, which ranks her at No. 3 in the nation.
“I did bad,” Deas said bluntly. “At least it was better than my last meet though.” My time was pretty good, but my race wasn’t. I still have a lot of work to do on my technique.”
Freshman Dana Nardello, a special and elementary education major, also seemed rather hard on herself, claiming that her time in the 400-meter run of 61.8 seconds was “Just OK,” despite it being her fastest time to date this season.
“I guess it was a good time for this early in the season,” Nardello said.
Also finishing in top ten spots were Senior Erin Lagarenne and Brianne Connor, both for the javelin. Lagarenne’s throw of 30.98 meters was good for 8th place, while Connor finished just behind her with a throw of 30.89 meters.
Deas, still looking for her first NCAA championship first place finish and her team’s next challenge, will be at the Morgan State Legacy meet on Friday, April 19.
Coach Williams was pleased with his team’s effort in the meet, but still admitted there was some work to be done.
“It was not the kind of day that’ll get me coach of the year or anything,” Williams said.
