Three Lyons reach NCAA meet qualifications at Skyhawk Invitational

April 5, 2008

EASTON, MA- A trio of Wheaton College athletes provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championship on Saturday at Stonehill College's Skyhawk Invitational, as the Lyon men's and women's outdoor track and field teams each produced top-five finishes. Wheaton's women placed fourth with 88 points while competing in an 11-squad field topped by Division I Boston College's 125.5 points. The men were fifth out of 12 scoring teams with 65 points, as Tufts University took first with 171.5 points.

Junior Chizoba Ezeigwe (Brockton, MA/Thayer Academy) played a hand in two wins for the women, including provisionally qualifying for nationals in the 100-meter dash in 12.06. Ezeigwe fell just 0.06 seconds short of an automatic standard. During the 4x400M relay, Ezeigwe joined classmates Natana Jules (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) and Celeste Karpow (Wilton, CT/Wilton) and freshman Laurenmaria Smith (Providence, RI/Hope) to win in four minutes flat.

The women's team's second provisional qualifier was freshman Erin Neville (North Providence, RI/La Salle Academy), who won the high jump at 5' 5". Wheaton had four second-place finishers, including freshman Diana Kornberg (Highland Mills, NY/Monroe-Woodbury) in the shot put.

Jules was the runner up in the 400-meter dash in 59.44, leaving her 0.17 seconds shy of first. Karpow took second in the 400M hurdles, followed by junior Christine Moreau (Lincoln, RI/Lincoln) in fifth. In the 800M, senior Megan Brousseau (Attleboro, MA/Attleboro) took the runner-up spot at 2:20.01, just 0.11 ticks behind the winner, while junior Lily Calderwood (Harvard, MA/Bromfield School) was fourth.

Rounding out Wheaton's top-five finishers were Smith placing third in the 200-meter dash and junior Morgan Jamiel (Warwick, RI/Toll Gate) fourth during the 100M hurdles.

On the men's side, sophomore Howard Powell (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) had a role in a pair of victories, including winning the 110-meter hurdles in 14.86, which provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championship. During the 4x100M relay, Powell combined with junior Jonathan Cunha (Lexington, MA/Lexington) and sophomores Mark Cimino (Danbury, CT/Danbury) and Merzudin Ibric (Revere, MA/Phillips Academy) to capture the win in 42.85.

In the field, freshman Marcus Kohlman (Milton, MA/Milton) won the high jump competition at 6' 6", coming within one inch of a provisional qualification. Junior Kyle Greenidge (Dorchester, MA/Newton North) took third in the long jump.

Wheaton placed three among the top seven in the 200-meter dash, as Ibric was third, freshman Mark Williamson (Vienna, VA/James Madison) took fourth and Cunha corralled a seventh-place showing. Junior Albi Skenderi (Glendale, NY/Grover Cleveland) finished among the top five in two events, taking fourth in the 110M hurdles and fifth in the 400M hurdles.

The Lyons travel to Florida for next Saturday's University of Miami Elite Invitational, which annually draws some of the top Division I competitors in the nation.

Complete Results

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 4/6/08.
Questions about this page? Use our query form.

News Headlines

Five Wheaton tracksters, both programs earn national academic accolades (more)

Weekly Lyon Update: Men's and Women's Track & Field (more)

Eight women earn All-America honors, Wheaton takes 23rd at NCAAs (more)