MAAC Student-Athletes Complete NCAA Track & Field Regional Championships; Iona’s Jack O’Leary Advances to National Championships

MAAC Student-Athletes Complete NCAA Track & Field Regional Championships; Iona’s Jack O’Leary Advances to National Championships

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Edison, N.J. (May 29, 2021) – After the conclusion of the 2021 NCAA Track & Field Regional Championships in Jacksonville, Florida, one Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) student-athlete qualified for the NCAA National Championships, to be held in Eugene, Oregon from June 9th to June 12th.
 
Iona College’s Jack O’Leary raced in the 10,000 Meter Run and finished in 11th place after completing the run in 29:01.42 improving on his 2019 NCAA Regional time by more than a minute and a half. With his 11th place finished O’Leary qualified for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Also competing in the Men’s 10,000 Meter Run was Iona’s Ehab El-Sandali (29:37.71) who placed 22nd, and Lachlan Wellington (30:09.95) who placed 33rd.
 
On Wednesday Monmouth’s senior Mark Orlando competed in the Men’s Javelin Throw and finished in 23rd with a distance of 64.69 meters. In the Women’s Javelin Toss, that took place Thursday afternoon, Monmouth’s Danielle Steff placed 31st with a distance of 45.08 meters.
 
Also competing in the field events were Rider’s Zach Manorowitz and Saint Peter’s Jabari Higgs-Salaam who both competed in the Men’s Long Jump. Manorowitz who was the MAAC Rookie Field Performer of the Meet placed 33rd with a jump distance of 7.13 meters. Finishing just behind him was Higgs-Salaam with a distance of 6.97 meters, which placed him 41st. Higgs-Salaam was the first Saint Peter’s student-athlete to compete in the regional championship in seven years.
 
Freshman Damien Dilcher from Iona ran in the first round of the Men’s 1500 Meter Run on Thursday. Dilcher turned in a time of 3:54.44 which placed him 44th. On the Women’s side in the 1500 Meter Run the MAAC had three representatives, Iona’s Kaitlyn Ohrtman and Gemma Nuttall, and Rider’s Kristin Siegle. In Thursday’s first round run Ohrtman (4:17.94) and Nuttall (4:21.73) qualified for Saturday’s quarterfinal, the senior Siegle missed the qualification but turned in a personal best time of 4:22.45. In the quarterfinal, round Ohrtman ran 4:21.32 and placed 15th and Nuttall ran 4:30.70 to finish in 21st.
 
In the Men’s 5000 Meter Run semifinal three student-athletes from Iona competed, El-Sandali, Joshua DeSouza, and Jamie Dee. El-Sandali turned in the best time of the three running the 5000 meters in 13:49.91, DeSouza ran 14:17.73 and Dee turned in a time of 14:19.63 to place 16th, 35th, and 36th respectively.
 
Click here to see the full results from the East Regional.
 
For more information regarding the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, visit ncaa.com. For a full list of men’s participants click here and for women’s click here.
 
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) celebrates its 40th year of competition during the 2020-21 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.