Complete Results
Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Long Island University men's and women's track and field squads competed at the Bennie Benson Memorial Invitational on Saturday. Junior Jessie Gaines claimed a pair of victories on the women's side, while junior Amire Solomon won the men's long jump.
Gaines claimed victory in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.50, outdistancing the field by .44 seconds, while sophomore Tricia Beckles won the 400-meter hurdles in 1:03.64. Gaines also won the triple jump with a leap of 12.44 meters, while senior Danay Spencer was second with a mark of 12.24 meters. Spencer came back with a win in the long jump with a leap of 5.42 meters.
Freshman Camille Thomas placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (16.49), while also competing in the long jump (4.80m) and triple jump (10.33m). Junior Tiffany Parker placed fifth in the 400-meter dash in a season-best time of 1:02.31, while turning in a time of 1:16.92 in the 400-meter hurdles. A trio of Blackbirds ran in the 800-meter run, with senior Desiree Conley (2:22.59) and junior Emilya Rosario (2:25.01) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, while senior Robin Renahan (2:47.72) also earned a top-10 finish. Renahan also turned in a time of 5:35.47 in the 1,500-meter run.
On the men's side, Solomon won the long jump with a mark of 7.09 meters. LIU had four runners in the 800-meter run and was led by sophomore Chris Welch with a time of 1:58.04. Sophomore Rogers Kipruto (1:59.36), senior Elmo Neckles (2:00.29) and senior Vincent Gangemi (2:03.46) also ran in the race. Kipruto turned in a time of 4:08.85 in the 1,500-meter run to place third. Paul Morton had marks of 5.90 meters in the long jump and 11.57 meters in the triple jump, while Steve Buscema threw the javelin 44.65 meters to place second.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team of Beckles, Conley, Rosario and Parker turned in a time of 4:06.10. The men's 4x400-meter relay team of Neckles, Welch, Gangemi and Morton clocked in at 3:31.93. Both relays placed second.
The Blackbirds' teams are in action at the Wagner Quad Meet on Wednesday, April 13.