Metro Holiday Season Opener Results

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn men's and women's track and field teams opened their indoor seasons this past weekend at the Metro Holiday Season Opener on Saturday, hosted by Manhattan College. 

Junior Adam Walker-Khan, senior Nicholas Ruiz, along with sophomores Esther Jean-Louis and Airrin Davis had solid finishes in their respective events, while the relay teams performed well against a tough field of over 25 teams to kick off the 2015-2016 season.

The women's 4x400-meter relay was the highlight of the meet for the Blackbirds. Seniors Alea Stevens, Anise Cuffee, Gabriella Abe-Onojobi and freshman Cayla Coleman crossed the finish line at 3:53.59, just one second out of first to clinch silver for LIU. In the same event, the men's team, consisting of freshmen Caleb Williams, Joseph Oxley, Roderick Moodie and junior Garvey Moore, ran 3:23.81 to earn seventh of 27 teams competing in the relay. 

Jean-Louis had the top finishfor the women's team in the 1000-meter run, coming in 12th place with a time of 3:09.01, while sophomore Karyn Ethridge also claimed a spot among the top 15 finishers in the same event. 

Davis turned in a 15th place finish for the Blackbirds in the 500-meter at 1:07.82, while Walker-Khan took a break from the jumps and sprinted into the 17th overall spot in the 60-meter dash, where he recorded a time of 7.16 against a field of 71 competitors. Placing first in his heat and 16th overall, Ruiz finished the 1000-meter run in 2:39.18, with junior Thaddeus Nelson finishing a mere two seconds behind Ruiz to claim second in the heat, 20th overall. 

UP NEXT
The Blackbirds continue their indoor campaign with two meets this week, competing in the 6th Annual St. John's University's Bill Ward Meet this Tuesday, Dec. 8 in South Huntington, N.Y. before heading back to Staten Island on Friday, Dec. 11 for the Wagner College Shoot-Out.