Rutgers-Camden Athletics

Indoor track team returns to action at St. Thomas Aquinas Spartan meet

1/12/2024 7:33:00 PM

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (Jan. 12, 2024) – The Rutgers University-Camden indoor track team returned to action here Friday at the St. Thomas Aquinas Spartan Invitational, a meet that included all different levels of NCAA competition held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex.
 
The Scarlet Raptors, who hadn't competed since December 8, saw four athletes compete in the 110-man 200-meter dash, with all of them posting a PR time. Freshman Robert Bayard finished 34th (23.34), sophomore Brandon Butts was 70th (24.26), freshman Hector Diaz finished 76th (24.46) and sophomore Walter Pierce placed 78th (24.51).
 
Bayard also placed 23rd of 92 in the 60-meter dash (7.23), while Butts finished 62nd (a PR of 7.58) and also finished 39th of 53 in the long jump (5.78 M).
 
Diaz added a 17th-place finish out of 31 athletes in the 60-meter hurdles (8.93), while Pierce was 23rd (9.29).
 
Freshman Dyheim Watson finished 40th of 59 in the shot put (10.13 M) and 41st of 47 in the weight throw (7.44 M).
 
The Scarlet Raptors also finished 13th of 18 in the men's 4x200 (1:33.93), with a team of Pierce, Diaz, Butts and Bayard.
 
Sophomore Patrick Dwamena finished 34th of 39 in his first time running at 500 meters, setting a PR of 1:17.31.
 
Two Raptor women also ran at 500 meters for the first time to set their PR in the event. In the 39-athlete women's race, sophomore Isabella Bordon finished 29th (1:29.46) and freshman Lindsay Lopez Trejo was 39th (1:43.30).
 
Freshman Kaitlyn Novak placed 63rd of 72 in the 60-meter dash (a PR of 9.48) and was among three Scarlet Raptors to compete in the 48-woman field of the shot put. She finished 31st (8.72 M). Alexis Marini, an academic senior with junior eligibility for indoor track, led the way in the shot put with a 9.84-meter throw to finish 23rd, while junior Francis Hill placed 37th (8.01 M).
 
Marini also finished third out of 51 athletes in the weight throw with a PR of 14.99, while Novak set a PR in the event with a 9,09-meter throw, finishing 35th. Novak also ran the 200-meter dash for the first time, posting a time of 33.12 to finish 71st of 81 athletes while notching her third PR in four events for the day.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Jan. 19 when they compete in the NYC Gotham Cup at Ocean Breeze, beginning at 12 p.m.
 
St. Thomas Aquinas Spartan Invitational