CHESEREK HIGHLIGHTS SPECIAL NIGHT FOR GRAY BEES IN EASTERNS
Swim team caps season in Philly

March 1, 2011

Edward Cheserek's mastery this indoor season continued on Tuesday night when the Kenyan put up one of the greatest distance doubles in New Jersey history.

Cheserek first went out in the Eastern States Championships as the anchor leg for the Distance Medley Relay team and split 4:07.7 for the 1,600 meters to lead the Gray Bees to victory. He then came back two hours later and dusted three of the top runners in New Jersey by claiming the 2-mile race in 9:02.40 at the New York City Armory.

"I am surprised that I ran as fast as I did in the two-mile because I had already run the (Distance Medley)," Cheserek told the Star-Ledger after the race. "But I felt very comfortable in both races and am very happy with how I ran. It was a great day.''

Cheserek came from seven seconds behind when he got the baton in the DMR. He caught and passed entire field in the first 400 when he ran and opening 55.1 to take the lead for good. He finished off St. Benedict's run of 10:14.54, the No. 2 time in the nation this season and No. 10 in state history.

The Gray Bees bettered their previous best by 5 seconds while establishing a school record - all without their usual 1,200-meter runner, Tahlief Jackson, who missed the meet. Garland Miller, who usually runs the 800, was slotted in Jackson's 1,200 leg and ran a very formidable 3:15.

Darien Edwards ran a great race filling in during the 800 portion of the DMR, while Kalonji Foster fashioned a 50.2 in the 400 during his normal spot in the rotation. Edwards, whose personal best in the 800 only two weeks ago was 2:10, handed the baton to Cheserek after running a 2:00.9.

"Darien was awesome and kept it close enough for Edward to do his thing," said Gray Bees coach Marty Hannon. "The guys in front of Edward were great and set it up and deserve all the credit in the world."

Cheserek came back a couple hours later in the 2-miler and beat the Rosa brothers, Jim and Joe, of West Windsor-Plainsboro North, and Matt MacDonald of North Hunterdon, who won the N.J. Meet of Champions title in the 3,200, with a winning time of 9:02.40.

He went past runner-up Jim Rosa, the Nike National 2-mile champion last winter, with two and half laps left and crossed the finish line in 9:02.40, No. 7 in state history and No. 3 in the U.S. this season.

"Edward was again awesome," said Hannon. "If there is someone ahead of him, he just goes to catch them."

The Gray Bees DMR team will now set their sights on CBA for the Nationals, which will be held March 11-13, back at the NYC Armory. CBA currently owns the top DMR time in the country with a 10:11.00. That race will be held on Friday, March 11.

Cheserek will also battle Lukas Verzbicas of Illinois in the 2-mile race that Sunday, March 13. Verzbicas finished just ahead of a closing Cheserek in the Nike National Cross Country Championships in Oregon back in December.

The swimming team also competed in the Easterns, but over the weekend in Philadelphia, and coach Glenn Cassidy's club wrapped up the season by scoring in the meet for the first time since 2002. Read More...

TRACK & FIELD TEAM PLACES SECOND IN STATE PREP CHAMPIONSHIPS
Hoop team is out of states after only one game
Wrestling reserves place in Preps

Feb. 16, 2011

The Gray Bees Track & Field team, led by Edward Cheserek and defending champion Ryan Rhodes, placed second in the State Prep Championships on Wednesday in Lawrenceville.

Coach Marty Hannon's team, which was the defending champion, finished behind the host school for the team title. The Gray Bees scored 77 points, 43 behind Lawrenceville, which claimed the top 2 spots in all the sprints.

Cheserek won the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs in 4:22.14 and 9:13.11, respectively, and placed second to Justin Hill of Seton Hall Prep in the 800. Cheserek had beaten Hill earlier this season in the Essex County Championships.

Ryan Rhodes claimed his second successive Shot Put title. After breaking 50 feet in the event same meet for the first time in his career last year, Rhodes couldn't quite match the 50-0 1/4 he threw in 2010, but his still won with a 49-6 this time around.

Kalonji Foster was the only other winner for the Gray Bees. He claimed the 55-meter hurdles in 7.8, while placing 3rd in the 200-meter dash, 4th in the 400 and 6th in the High Jump, an even that teammate Kenyon Wright placed second with a leap of 6-0.

Tahlief Jackson finished 2nd to Cheserek in the 1,600 with a 4:29.08, while Garland Miller finished 3rd (10:16.48) and Adebayo Eisape 5th (10:32.64) in the 3,200. Mitch Brutus finished 5th in the 55-meter dash with a 6.72.

The basketball team's showing in the State Preps on Wednesday epitomized the struggles it has gone through under first-year coach Roshown McLeod. Read more...

St. Benedict's sent a host of reserves to the state Prep Wrestling Championships Wednesday at Blair and Don-Tai Garner (135 pounds) and Eli Feliciano (171) each had a runner-up finish. Cinque Casey-Patrick (119) and Chris McLean (189) finished third.

The full squad will be back in action this Saturday at the National Prep Championship qualifier at Poly Prep in Brook. Read more...

GRAY BEES HAVE TOPSY-TURVY WEEKEND

Feb. 6, 2011

The Gray Bees wrestling team highlighted the weekend sports scene with "Senior Day" on Saturday in Dalton Gymnasium.

A nice crowd showed up to pay tribute to St. Benedict's seniors, Chris Dowdy, Vinnie Bellaran, Isaiah Cromwell, Chris Reynolds, Kevin Gil, Josue Del Rios and Bobby Bah.

Click here to read more and watch video as Bellaran took down the seventh-ranked wrestler in New Jersey.

Ben Villaret, a post-grad wrestler, was at Lafayette College over the weekend and came away with the title at 165 pounds in the 14th Annual Doug Cherry Invitational.

The Track & Field Team competed at the Jersey Armory on Sunday and placed second in the New Jersey Catholic Conference Championships.

Edward Cheserek won a pair of events, including establishing a meet record in the 1,600-meter run. Cheserek shaved 3 seconds off the standard in the 1,600 with a time of 4:16.82 and also won 3,200 in 9:12.62, nearly 35 seconds better than the runner-up and the top time in the nation this season.

Cheserek, also ran a 51.9 anchor leg on the Gray Bees' third-place 4x400-meter relay team, while Ryan Rhodes (49-8 1/2) grabbed a second-place finish in the Shot Put.

Also scoring for coach Marty Hannon's team, which finished behind CBA in the team standings, 113-62, were Tahlief Jackson (4th in the 1,000: 2:39.35), Garland Miller (4th in the 1,600: 4:32.48), Kalonji Foster (3rd in the 55 hurdles: 7.88), Darien Edwards (5th in 55 hurdles 8.21), Kenyon Wright (4th in the high jump: 6-0) and the 3,200 relay team (5th in 8:47.77).

The hoop team opened the weekend with a trip to Baltimore on Friday night and put forth one of their better efforts of the season.

Philip Nolan was among three players in double figures with 10 points, but he also added 7 rebounds and 3 blocks to spark the Gray Bees effort during a 64-54 victory over St. Frances Academy, which came into the contest with a 17-3 record.

SBP also received 12 points from Vaughn Gray, 11 points from Tyler Harris and 8 points and 6 assists from Tyler Ennis.

All, however, wasn't good for coach Roshown McLeod's team. The Gray Bees came back on Sunday and lost to Plymouth Whitemarsh in the Battle by the Bay in Atlantic City.

The team from Pennsylvania connected on a three-pointer with 2.7 seconds left to post a 59-56 verdict. Harris paced the Gray Bees with 18 points and 8 rebounds, while Ennis added 12 points and Gray chipped in with 11.

The fencing team, which eked out a 14-13 verdict over Newark Academy in its previous match, lost by the same score against Lawrenceville on Saturday in Mercer County.

Idris Mitchell and Jamar Victor, both Sabreists, were the only two fencers to go unbeaten on the day for coach Jeff Austin's team. Nick Walker, at Foil, was the only other member of the team to boost a wining record on the day.

The Gray Bees lost for just the second time in 10 matches this year - both losses coming via a 14-13 score.

DMR ESTABLISHES TOP TIME IN THE COUNTRY

Feb. 2, 2011

The Gray Bees Distance Medley Relay team of Tahleif Jackson, Kalonji Foster, Garland Miller and Edward Cheserek posted the top time in the country on Wednesday with a clocking of 10:19.95 in the Ed Poreda Invitational at the Lavino Field House in Lawrenceville.

Cheserek ran 4:11.5 on the anchor leg (1,600 meters) to bring the baton across the finish line first for SBP. The other splits were 3:11.5 for Jackson (1,200), 52.0 for Foster (400) and 2:04.7 for Miller (800).

The Gray Bees also received a strong effort from its Sprint Medley Relay team, which consisted of Foster, Kenyon Wright, Jackson and Cheserek. Despite juggling the baton on one of the handoffs, the foursome posted a 3:32.8, which is the No. 2 time in the U.S. right now.

Coach Marty Hannon's club received splits of 23.3 from Foster, 23.6 from Kenyon Wright, 51.8 from Jackson and 1:53.8 from Cheserek, who celebrated his 17th birthday on Wednesday and was honored as The Star-Ledger's Athlete of the Week a day later.

BASKETBALL, TRACK & FIELD TEAMS SHINE OVER THE WEEKEND
Hoop team produces dazzling victory in NNI
Track & Field team runs away with ECC

Jan. 30, 2011

The Gray Bees Basketball team kicked off the weekend with a scintillating victory in the Newark National Invitational and the Track & Field team capped it by scoring a dominating triumph in the Essex County Championships.

Coach Roshown McLeod's team avenged an earlier season loss to Life Center Academy when Tyler Harris buried a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Gray Bees to a 56-55 verdict on Friday night at the Prudential Center.

Harris, who dropped in 12 of his 14 points in the final 5:18 of the game, sent the crowd into a frenzy when he took an inbounds pass from Jamel Artis with 0.4 and unleashed his game-winning shot from well beyond the top the key.

"I knew I was gonna make it," Harris said. "I just told my teammate if you throw me the ball I'm gonna make it."

The North Carolina-bound Harris gave the Gray Bees a 51-50 lead when he scored inside with 1:29 remaining left in the game before Jaylen Reid raised the lead to three with a jumper with 42 seconds left.

Life Center, however, scored the next five points, on a pair of free throws John Johnson and a trey from RaShawn Cunningham with 5.5 seconds left before Harris' own three-pointer rescued the Gray Bees as time expired.

The victory avenged an 80-77 loss on Dec. 21 when Life Center's LaQuinton Ross, who is headed to Ohio State, poured in 25 points. A tenacious defense limited the 6-8 senior to only 7 points this time around.

Harris carried the momentum from that game into Sunday's match-up against Penn Wood High when he erupted for 18 more points during a 65-60 victory in the Lehigh Valley Hoopfest in Allentown, Pa.

Reid and Vaughn Gray contributed with 9 points apiece, while Philip Nolan had a solid outing with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 5 blocks.

It was also payback time for coach Marty Hannon's Track & Field team on Sunday in the Essex County Championships.

They Gray Bees, which lost a one-point decision to Seton Hall Prep on the county relay championships last month, destroyed the Pirates this time around with All-American Edward Cheserek in the lineup.

Cheserek, the sensational sophomore from Kenya who missed the relay meet, almost outscored Seton Hall by himself as the Gray Bees ran away with an 83-35 victory.

"The guys were itching to get to this meet after what happened in the relays," said Hannon. "It was just a great all-around team effort with Edward once again leading the way."

Cheserek totaled 30 points by-way of his trifecta - victories in the 1,600-meter, 800-meter and 3,200-meter runs. Ryan Rhodes chipped in with his second straight county crown in the Shot Put with a heave of 51-3 3/4, while Kenyon Wright claimed the High Jump title with a leap of 6-2.

(Read more about the Essex County Championships in The Star-Ledger)

URQUILLA LEADS A GREAT EFFORT BY SWIMMERS IN COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Showing caps a busy sports weekend for Gray Bee athletes

Jan. 23, 2011

Gio Urquilla was so sick on Friday night that he had to be scratched from a race for the Gray Bees swim team.

"I was mad at myself, but I knew I could make up for it," said Urquilla, who blamed his sickness from eating too much before the Gray Bees 89-81 setback to Pennington. "I owed it to my teammates to get ready mentally and physically. So I settled down that night and relaxed."

Less than 24 hours after getting nauseous, Urquilla was back in the pool on Saturday and competing in the Essex County Championships.

The senior, who last year became the first Gray Bees swimmer to hold a county title since Olympic Gold Medalist Cullen Jones dominated in 2002, claimed two more Essex crowns in the pool at Seton Hall University.

Urquilla, who doubled in last year's county's by claiming the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke, won the 50-yard freestyle this time around by swimming a personal-best 22.64. He was the lone swimmer to break the 23-second mark.

He then went out later in the meet and swam a 50-split of 21.97 as the anchor for the Gray Bees 200-yard freestyle victory in 1:33.67. Dennis Tassie, Gavin Mulholland and Kieran Lenahan joined Urquilla in SBP's upset over Seton Hall, which was kept from sweeping all three relays in the meet for the first time since 2006.

The victory in the relay, a time that beat their previous personal best by two seconds, was the first relay crown won by the Gray Bees since Jones anchored the same race back in '02. Jones is still the country record holder in the 50-free with a 21.17.

Jones, in fact, sent a text to coach Glenn Cassidy congratulating Urquilla and the team of their efforts afterwards.

"I'm so happy because I got my best times and I helped my school win a relay for the first time in nine years," said Urquilla in an interview with The Star-Ledger. He also took second place in the 100-free with another personal best (49.75).

Urquilla, Tassie, Mulholland and Lenahan also took third in the 400-yard relay with a clocking of 3:29.60.

The Gray Bees finished fourth in the team scores, just 1 1/2 points behind Millburn for third place. All told, Cassidy's club posted 29 personal records out of 40 swims, which is incredible considering most of the same swimmers established records the day before against Pennington.

"I was hopeful that we would have a great day, but even I wasn't prepared for everything that the kids accomplished," praised Cassidy. "Many of the times they were trying to beat were the ones they set the day before. To see times drop on both days is crazy."

The track team was up in Connecticut competing in the Yale Invitational on Friday and Saturday and had both Tahlief Jackson and All-American Edward Cheserek in the lineup for the first time this winter.

The Gray Bees were expecting a much better outcome for its Distance Medley and 4x800-meter relay teams. But coach Marty Hannon called it a "learning experience."

The DMR team finished fourth in 10:28.50 with Tahlief Jackson (3:12.1 in the 1,200), Kalonji Foster (52.1, 400), Garland Miller (2:03.5 for 800) and Cheserek (4:19.2, mile) carrying the baton on Friday.

On Saturday, the same contingent came back in the 4x800 and picked up another fourth-place effort with an 8:05.24. Cheserek ran an anchor leg of 1:52.5 in that race.

The basketball team was in West Virginia over the weekend and split a pair of games in the Prime Time Shootout. The Grays Bees dropped a 62-49 effort on Friday to Florida's Arlington Country Day, USA Today's 15th-ranked team in the nation.

Coach Roshown McLeod's team, which combined for only 6 assists in the opener, came back on Saturday and put forth a much better team effort in beating Huntington Prep, 62-53.

Jamel Artis led four players in double figures with a season-high 17 points. Tyler Ennis also posted a season-best with 15 points, while Jaylen Reid and Philip Nolan hit for 11 points apiece. Nolan's trey with 3:21 left in the game gave the Gray Bees the lead for good at 51-49.

The Gray Bees fencing team got the sports action going over the weekend with a convincing, 20-7, victory over Moorestown Friends on Friday in Shanley Gym.

Tashon Little, Idris Mitchell and Jamar Victor opened the match with three straight victories in Sabre and wound up with a combined 8-0 ledger on the day.

Mike Daniel and Nick Walker in Foil, and Khris White in Epee, also went unbeaten for SBP, which upped its record to 6-1 on the year.

The wrestling team has a busy weekend, traveling to Pennsylvania on Friday for a tri-match before headed to Baltimore to compete in the Gilman Duals. Read more...

FENCING TEAM VICTORIOUS IN HOME OPENER IN SHANLEY GYM
Hoopsters beat team from Canada in Dan Finn Memorial Classic
Swimming, Track and Wrestling teams also in action

Jan. 15, 2011

The Gray Bees fencers may not have taken Hun too seriously and lost a tough decision the last time the team from Princeton visited Shanley Gymnasium.

St. Benedict's coach Jeff Austin, however, wasn't about to let his team to overlook the same opponent again.

"I told my guys Hun would make up for lack of skill with a lot of heart," explained Austin of his pre-match advice. "It was frustrating the last time they were here and I didn't want us to make the same mistakes again."

The Gray Bees heeded their coach's advice and came out focused and never relented in Hun's return visit to Shanley and posted a convincing 20-7 verdict last Friday.

In their first home match of the season, the Gray Bees won the first four bouts of the day and nine of the first 10. Austin's Sabre contingent went 8-1 on the day, the Epee team boosted a 7-2 mark, while the Foilists fashioned a 5-4 record.

Idris Mitchell (pictured) spearheaded Sabreists with a 3-0 mark, the same record posted by Khris White in Epee and Elliott McFarland in Foil. Also going unbeaten on the day were Jamar Victor (2-0) and Tashon Little (1-0) in Sabre, and Darren Sr. Ange (2-0) in Epee.

The basketball team competed in the Dan Finn Memorial Classic on Saturday and put forth a solid defensive effort in besting Canada's Next Level Prep, 66-39, at the Jersey City Armory.

Tyler Harris hit for 12 points and pulled down 6 rebounds for St. Benedict's (7-5), which stretched six-point first quarter lead into a 31-21 spread by the halftime break. Philip Nolan and Jaylen Reid also had 6 boards, while Vaughn Gray chipped in with 8 points.

The Gray Bees will now have a few days to prepare for Florida's Arlington Country Day, the 17th-ranked team in the country, in the Prime-Time Shootout on Friday evening in West Virginia.

The Gray Bees swimming team ended a long layoff and competed in their first competition in 2011 and wound up 7th in the Pirate Invitational at The Bubble in West Windsor on Saturday.

Coach Glenn Cassidy's club, which hadn't competed since beating Horace Mann on Dec. 14, was led once again by Gio Urquilla.

Urquilla, the reigning Essex County champion in the 100-frestyle and 100-breakstroke - the first Gray Bees swimmer to hold a county crown since Olympic Gold Medalist Cullen Jones dominated in 2002 - scored points for his team by placing second in the 50-yard freestyle and 6th 100-yard backstroke.

The senior also help the 200-yard freestyle relay team place third. He was joined by Dennis Tassie, Gavin Mulholland and Andrew Caetano. The same tandem also placed 5th in the medley relay.

Coach Marty Hannon's track & field team traveled to the Stanner Games in The Bronx on Saturday and competed in their final event without the services of All-American Edward Cheserek and Tahlief Jackson.

Shot putter Ryan Rhodes led the Gray Bees effort by placing second with a heave of 51-1 in the Invitational finals, while Kenyon Wright placed third in the high jump with a leap of 6-2. Wright, who was joined by Kalonji Foster, Okhumale Igeter and Tyler Cooper, also anchored the third-place effort by the 4x200-meter relay team, which posted a time of 1:33.64.

With Cheserek and Jackson back in the fold for this weekend's Yale Invitational, expect the Gray Bees to chase the best time in the nation in the Distance Medley Relay, which was just established this past weekend by Jeramy Elkaim-led Livingston, who posted a time of 10:23.36 at the state Group 4 relays.

The wrestling team competed in the National High School Coaches Association Festival and went 2-3 during their five matches Saturday at Pleasant Valley High School in Pennsylvania.

Isaiah Cromwell was the lone wrestler to score a perfect 5-0 mark on the day for coach Solomon Fleckman's team, which posted victories over Emmaus (40-23) and Northwestern Lehigh (48-22).

The wrestlers returned to action on Monday to take on Seton Hall Prep and suffered a heartbreaking, 33-32, loss on the road in West Orange. The Gray Bees came into the final bout of the match trailing, 33-28, but Whitney Forte could only muster a major decision at 135 pounds, thus Seton Hall held on for the one-point decision.

Forte, Terrell Forbes, who registered a major decision at 152 pounds, and Vinnie Belleran, who posted a fall at 189 pounds, were the only ones who scored bonus points on the mat for Fleckman's squad.

TRACK TEAM EDGED IN DEFENSE OF COUNTY RELAY TITLE
Fencers finish 12th in Cetrulo tournament
Wrestlers place 4th in Ironman

January 2011

The Gray Bees track and field team looked as though it would eke out a second straight title in the Essex County Relays on Sunday.

But a lot of shuffling in final event - the 4x400-meter relay - wound up costing the St. Benedict's the title.

Coach Marty Hannon's team was leading Seton Hall Prep by five points heading into the meet-concluding race and needed only to finish within two places of the Pirates to maintain the lead and seal up the victory.

After placing third in the 4x400 (3:39.59) to Seton Hall's second (3:32.25) in the first heat, it looked as if St. Benedict's Prep would hang on and repeat as champion. The only way Seton Hall could overtake St. Benedict's would be if at least two teams ran faster than the Gray Bees time in the final heat of the race, usually reserved for the slower teams.

That's exactly what happened. Nutley (3:37.48) and Weequahic (3:38.97) posted better times, pushing the Gray Bees to fifth for the final results of the last event. Thus, the Gray Bees lost the title, 42-41, to Seton Hall.

The outcome would have been much different had Nutley and Weequahic ran head-to-head with SBP and Seton Hall in the first heat. But it only turned out to a big disadvantage to the Gray Bees.

"Pretty disappointing when you lose a meet by one point," said coach Hannon. "You can find a dozen reasons why you could have won, if only..."

St. Benedict's still finished second in the overall team standings, despite competing without All-American Edward Cheserek, who, along with Tahlief Jackson, are sitting out the first 30 days of the season in order for St. Benedict's to be eligible for county meets. Cheserek still ran in an open race on Sunday and took second in the Fred Lebow 5-Mile Classic in Central Park in 25:09. Cheserek lost to New Zealand's Olympian John Henwood.

In the county meet, St. Benedict's won the shot put as senior Ryan Rhodes threw a meet-best 51-03/4 and combined with Obinna Nwosu for a winning combined effort of 90-10 3/4.

The Gray Bees received a second-place effort in the high jump and shuttle hurdles (31.84), third in the sprint medley (3:41.40), fourth in the 800-meter relay (1:37.28), fifth in both the 1,600 (3:39.59) and 3,200 (8:41,.04) and sixth in the distance medley (11:51.59). In the high jump, Kenyon Wright had a meet-best leap of 6-2, but the Gray Bees finished second as a team due to number of misses.

The fencing team traveled to Glen Gardner on Sunday and competed in the Cetrulo tournament at placed 12th among 45 teams. Coach Jeff Austin's club wound up in 7th-place in Sabre, 10th in Epee and 26 in Foil for its team total of 43 points.

The Gray Bees were back in action Wednesday in only their third dual meet of the season and dropped a 14-13 decision to Gov. Livingston, a team that finished 7th in the Cetrulo.

The two teams were locked in a 13-all standoff heading into the final bout of the match in Foil. St. Benedict's saw it come down to the last touch in the final competition and found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-4 decision and lost the match.

The wrestling team was also in action over the weekend in Staten Island and came away with a fourth-place finish in the Dave Ironman Invitational at Msgr. Farrell. The Gray Bees finished three points out of third place to the host school, the same school they beat in a dual meet, 44-31, on Dec. 23.

Chris Dowdy (140 pounds) and Vinnie Bellaran (171) each came away with titles in the tournament with dominating efforts. Dowdy scored three falls and a major decision, while Bellaran posted a pair of pins and a technical fall.

Terrell Forbes (152) made it to the second championship bout of his career and placed second, along with Isaiah Cromwell (189). Chris Reynolds placed third at 215 pounds, while Whitney Forte (130) and Stephon McDonald (160) each took home fourth-pace honors.

"Our performance this weekend, like in past weekends this season, was positive overall," said coach Solomon Fleckman. "I believe many of us who are involved with the wrestling program are all anxious to have that one, break-out performance where we can all agree that, at last, we're clicking on all cylinders."

TRACK TEAM GETS INDOOR SEASON UNDERWAY IN RELAY MEET
Wrestling team splits squad to compete in two places

The Indoor Track season opened for the Gray Bees Sunday at the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference Passarelli Relays.

Coach Marty Hannon's relay teams came away with one first place effort, a runner-up finish and three third-place showings at the Bennett Center in Toms River.

Grabbing first place for SBP was the 4x200-meter relay team of Mitch Brutus, Frantz Soiro, Mike Oyefesobi and Kalonji Foster, who ran a 1:36.50 to capture the title. Foster also came away with medals as part of the 4x400 and shuttle hurdles teams that each placed third.

The Gray Bees shot put team of Ryan Rhodes, Obinna Nwosu and Christian Gonzalez had a second-place showing with a combined distance of 132-11 3/4. Rhodes led the team with a heave of 50-10 3/4.

Edward Cheserek, the Nike National runner-up in cross country earlier this month, and Tahlief Jackson won't get their winter track season's underway until the new year.

The freshmen runners established two meet records in their class event at Passarelli. The 4x200-meter relay team ran a 1:39.10, four seconds faster than the previous mark, and the 4x400 contingent shaved more than nine seconds off the previous best by running a 3:45.80. Aziz Smith, Tyler Cooper and Naija Omari ran in both events, while Selwyn Benjamin and Alex Waterbury each competed in just one.

The wrestling team's split squad competed in the prestigious Beast of the East Tournament in Delaware and the Kearny Invitational. Click here to read more about coach Solomon Fleckman's team.