Dec. 12, 2006

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's men's and women's track squads took to the oval on Friday, December 8 at the Princeton Invitational in Princeton, NJ. Both teams featured standout performances from freshman runners, while the women's team also saw senior co-captain Valerie Ramirez take first place in the 60m hurdles in record fashion.

For the Hawk men, freshman Brian Doherty placed fifth in the 1000m with a time of 2:41.33. Doherty also ran the third leg of the 4x400 relay; the squad took fifth-place honors with a time of 3:28.57. Seniors Joe Witiw and Chris Kessler also ran the 4x400, along with junior Bobby Staten. All three joined Doherty in performing double duty as Witiw placed eighth (1:08.79) and Kessler 13th (1:09.15) in the 500m, while Staten ran a 7.00 in the 60-meter dash preliminaries.

On the women's side, Ramirez won a hurdles event for the second consecutive week, topping the list in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.05. That broke the school record of 9.08, set by Ramirez just last year. Freshman Nicole McMullen also set a school record of her own in the 300m. Her time of 41.47 shattered the old record of 42.58 that had stood for over five years. McMullen placed second in the race and added a third-place finish in the long jump. She also ran the third leg of the 4x400 relay that took fourth place. Also running well for the Hawks were junior Jordan Teuber and senior co-captain Julie Lentz. Teuber took home third place in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.02, and Lentz placed fourth in the 500m, running a 1:18.54. Backed by these finishes, the Hawk women were able to place a runner in the top four of every race they entered.

Saint Joseph's will return to the oval on Friday, January 5, 2007 at the Fordham Invitational in the Bronx.