SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Facing stiff competition at the Springfield College Indoor Track and Field meet, the Mount Saint Mary College men's and women's track and field teams gained valuable experience. The women's team placed eight in a nine team field, while the men tied for ninth place in a ten team field.

Sophomore Ope Ifafore (Middletown, N.Y.) led the women's team, with several notable finishes. Ifafore placed 16th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 28.76, while also placing ninth in the shot put with a throw that traveled 9.87 meters. Teammate Cathy Terranova (Whitestone, N.Y.) launched the shot put 9.06 meters to earn an 11th finish in the event. Sophomore Nicole Zazzero (Brewster, N.Y.) shattered her old school record in the 1000 meter run, placing sixth with a time of 3:19.48.

Junior Laura Santiago (San Juan, Puerto Rico) placed 12th in the 600 meter run, clocking in with a new school record time of 1:58.34. Santiago teamed with Ifafore, sophomore Amanda Pfister (Staten Island, N.Y.) and freshman Dannielle Villanueva (Staten Island, N.Y.) to set a new school record in the 4 x 200 meter relay, while placing fifth overall in the event (1:59.48). In the 800 meter dash, pentathlete freshman Samantha Sagendorph (Bellmore, N.Y.) dashed to a third place finish in 2:51.14. Sagendorph, the Mount's first ever pentathlete, earned 1533 points.

Multiple top twenty finishes highlighted the men's performance at the meet. Sophomore Matthew Soltis (Cornwall, N.Y.) finished 13th in the 600 meter run with a time of 1:33.07. In the one mile run, sophomore Jeremias Ramos (Monroe, N.Y.) earned 19th place, clocking in at 5:02.24. Junior Dustin Flynn jumped 5.21 meters to place 18th in the long jump event.

The Knights enjoy a weekend off before returning to action on Saturday February 18 at the Monmouth Blue-White Invitational. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. in West Long Branch, New Jersey.