Villanova men’s and women’s track and field competed in the Scarlet Knight Open in New York, NY at The Armory. The event hosted by Rutgers University took place over two days, Feb. 2 and 3.
On Friday, the men’s 400-meter was the lone competition in which Villanova participated. Freshman Matthew Griffin, sophomores Ronan O’Neill and Sal Barretta and senior William Seijas ran for Villanova.
Griffin led the pack of four, finishing 15th, with a time of 50.86 seconds. O’Neill crossed the finish line in 50.96 seconds, coming in 16th. A mere tenth of a second separated the two runners.
Beretta ran a 51.13, placing 25th in the field.
Seijas capped off the 400-meter for Villanova, placing 33rd, with a time of 52.00 seconds.
Freshmen sprinters Derrick Smith and Imevar Justice kicked off Saturday’s events.
Smith posted a time of 7.16 in the unseeded section of the 60-meter and raced to a time of 23.16 in the 200 meters. Justice made his collegiate debut on Saturday and posted a mark of 22.51 in the 200-meter.
Both Smith and Justice recorded personal bests in their respective races.
The women also had several athletes compete on Saturday.
Freshman sprinter Djoonicka Buissereth competed in both the 60-meter and the 200-meter. Freshman Lore Olakunle joined Buissereth in the 60-meter.
Buissereth and Olakunle posted times of 7.99 and 8.02, respectively, in the preliminary heats of the 60-meter in Villanova’s first event of the day.
Buissereth later raced to a time of 26.88 in the 200-meter.
Junior Taylor Woodeshick and freshman Gina Smith competed in the field portion of the event.
Woodeshick cleared a season-best height of 1.60 meters in the high-jump and Smith recorded a mark of 10.63 meters in the triple-jump.
Villanova men’s and women’s track and field next head to a number of events planned for the upcoming weekend.
The women are scheduled to be split at two different events. One is the Fastrack National Invite in Staten Island, NY, held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Feb. 9. The second is the Eagle Elite Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts. The invitational is set to take place over two days, Feb 9. and Feb 10. Boston College is hosting.
The men are scheduled only to attend the Fastrack National Invite on Feb 9.
