Saturday (3/25) the Lions Track & Field team traveled to Queens College. It was a rainy day throughout but our athletes did not let that stop them from competing and putting forth their best efforts. John Zarnowski: (100,200) Is off to a strong start to his season finishing in 12.54 in the 100, his best performance of the day was finishing with a 23.9 in the 200 which is close to the national standard of 23.77, he will likely hit the standard in better weather and is not bad for the first meet of the season. Douglas Burgess: (800) Doug did not miss a beat from last year, and used his signature smart racing tactics to take 4th place in the 800 with a time of 2:11.48. Oliver Melera-Perez: (800) Oliver went out strong from the gun and took the lead for the first half of the race. However, Oliver paid for his aggressive start with a difficult second half. Oliver finished in 2:14.15. Rueben Cheong: (800) Rueben competed in the second heat without any teammates. Rueben could have started more aggressively his slower first lap put him out of position and towards the back of the race. With some better tactics Rueben can greatly improve his time of 2:30.17. Jahmire Da Cruz: (Long Jump) Jahmire is a talented long jumper, however he struggled under the rainy conditions. He is expected to quickly achieve the national long jump standard with better weather. Jahmires best jump was 15'5". James Knight: (Shot Put, Discus) James started the meet off in the Discus along with Rodney. James threw 57'11" in the discus and had a strong Shot Put showing throwing 28'9".75. Rodney Yarborough: (Shot Put, Discus) Rodney threw 76'11" in the discus. Rodney had one of the best performances of the day for the Lions throwing 33'1" in the shot put which is just a few feet off the national standard. Rodney had one throw that may have hit the standard or been very close but unfortunately it was just outside the boundary resulting in a vector foul. Coach Sheerin had this to say following the first meet of the season ""I was impressed with how the team competed despite the rain. We competed hard and that's what I was looking for in the season opener. Lion of the meet performances were awarded to Douglas Burgess for his fourth-place finish in the men's 800 in 2:11, and Rodney Yarbrough for his Shot Put performance throwing 33'1." The Lions look forward to growing as their next meet is April 2 at the Coach O Invitational in Kings Point.
