Knights Track and Field

Knights’ Complete Weekend at Penn Relays
Senior Aidan Walsh pitted against world-class runners in
Olympic Development mile

Philadelphia, PA – The Fairleigh Dickinson University men's and women's track and field teams completed their weekend at the Penn Relay Carnival, the largest annual track and field event in the world. The Knights' performance was highlighted with Aidan Walsh's (Dublin, Ireland/The High School) entry in the men's Olympic Development mile run.

The senior track athlete at FDU competed against some of the world's top competition in the event, running a 4:16.83 and finishing in 13th. After a scratch earlier this week in the event Walsh received entry into the race and was pitted against top-tier competitors of the Penn Relays. Gareth Tumbull from the St. Malachy’s Old Boys team won the event in 3:57.61.

Walsh’s primary outdoor event is the 1500 meters in which, earlier this season, he qualified for the IC4As with a time of 3:48.10 ran at the Columbia Open. The three-time All-East athlete will compete at the 2002 Outdoor IC4A Championships on May 17-19 held in Princeton, N.J. along with several other members of the men's and women's teams.

Also highlighting the Knights' stay in Philadelphia was Dana White's (Camden, NJ/Camden) fifth place finish in the women's heptathlon (4354 points), the very first of her collegiate career. It was also the highest individual finish for an FDU at the Relays. After day one White remained in second place with finishes in the 100m hurdles (2nd -15,54), high jump (9th - 4-9.75), shot put (1st - 42-6.25), and 200m (2nd - 26.34). In day two of competition she finished 8th in the long jump (15-5), 8th in the javelin (85-10) and 9th in the 800m (2:36.15). On Thursday, White added a 13th place finish in the Eastern Shot Put with a throw of 12.41m (40-8.75).

Melanie Porterfield (Sicklerville, NJ/Highland Regional) finished fourth in her heat in the 400m hurdles, running a 1:03.90. As part of the 4x100m relay team both White and Porterfield helped the squad to a sixth place finish in their respective heat with a time of 49.93 seconds. The women's 4x200m team ran a 1:43.87 to finish fourth in their heat while the 4x400m relay placed sixth in 4:05.27. Everlyn Cheptoo (Kapsowar, Kenya/Singore HS) ran a 17:14.88 in the 5000m Championship.

Duncan Bitok (Rift Valley, Kenya/Samoei Secondary) and Erick Too (Eldoret, Kenya/Kapngetuny) each posted 10th place finishes. Bitok ran the men's 5000m in a personal best and IC4A qualifying time of 14:34.36 while Too ran a personal best 30:02.75 in the 10,000m Championship late on Thursday evening. Alfred Korir (Kapsabet, Kenya/Samoei Secondary) finished 15th in the Steeplechase Championship in a time of 9:08.97. Robert Rotich (Kericho, Kenya/Nakuru) bested his personal record in the steeplechase with a 13th place finish with a time of 9:24.36. The lone men's relay team, the 4x400m, finished seventh in the NY Metropolitan heat in 3:23.22.

The Knights men’s and women’s track and field teams are next in action at the Northeast Conference 2002 Outdoor Championships, held in Emmitsburg, Maryland on Saturday, May 4^th through Sunday May 5^th.