Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. – With spring break for the University of New Haven most students traveled to the beaches in Florida, but it was slightly different for the men's track and field team. Spring break for the blue and gold was on the track in Myrtle Beach competing at the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational. The team left West Haven on Sunday and spent the week in South Carolina practicing ahead of the meet which started Thursday and lasted until Saturday.
The three day meet opened up the outdoor season for the Chargers coming off of an indoor season in which they earned 10 All-Region honors and took home 4 medals at the Conference Championships at the end of February.
Coming off winning a silver medal during the indoor season in the triple jump, Jonathan Cineus (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) couldn't be in the beach sand so instead he played in the sand pit at the meet competing in the triple jump. He would have to wait until the third flight before he was able to jump, but the wait was no factor for him. After just missing fourteen meters on his first jump and fouling his second, Cineus flew into the pit being marked at 14.60m and pushing him through to the finals. That jump would tie his jump that earned him a silver medal during indoor conference championships but most importantly it would jump him into third place in the leaderboards which would hold against the competition finishing him in third place in the meet.
The theme for the blue and fold was to jump into the finish for their events as Jordan Emilie finished fourth overall in the high jump. Emilie competed in the high bar section which entered at an opening height of 1.83m which he cleared on his first try. After narrowly missing 1.88m on his first attempt he cleared with ease on his second and the same was true at 1.93m. Moving into 1.98m he was one of six athletes that remained at that height. Each jump he was closer and closer to clearing and on his third jump he cleared 1.98 marking a new personal record and moving up to 2.03m. Emilie would just miss clearing that height on his third jump, but his jump of 1.98 would move him into fourth overall in the meet and beat his previous best jump of 1.82m during the indoor season.
One jump was all that Jacky Marescot (Spring Valley, N.Y./Ramapo) needed to leap into 6th place in the meet following a first place finish in his flight. With four flights of jumpers, Marescot had to wait until the third before he got to jump. On his very first jump of the outdoor season and the meet he was marked at 6.75m leaping him into the finals of the flight. His final two jumps would be close but 6.75m would be his best and after passing to jump in the finals the competition would look up to his mark which would finish him in 6th place overall for the meet and the highest spot for the blue and gold in the event.
With the completion of the meet the team now begins their two day trip to return home to West Haven after the successful spring break trip for the team. With the start of the outdoor season the team now reacclimates to the weather of the northeast ahead of their second meet of the year but the first meet in their home state as next week the team will take the short trip to Middletown Connecticut to compete in the J Elmer Swanson Spring Classic track meet looking to continue the success that they found in Myrtle Beach.
