Full Results

University Park, Pa. – A pair of Colonials registered qualifying marks for the IC4A Championships in the first meet of the new year as the Robert Morris University men's indoor track & field team resumed action after the holiday break at the Penn State Relays Saturday at the Horace Ashenfelter III Track.
 
The meet featured 10 Division I teams, including squads from the Big Ten, the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big 12, and team scoring was not kept.
 
Redshirt senior Steve Mitchell (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Pittsburgh Central Catholic) did not miss a beat after the layoff as he continued his strong start to the season with a pair of top-four finishes. He placed third in the shot put (15.96 meters) and fourth in the weight throw (17.43 meters) while surpassing the IC4A standard in both events. Mitchell, who had already surpassed the qualifying standard in the shot put in the season's first meet, currently owns the top marks in the Northeast Conference in both events this season.
 
Junior Richard Njenga (Ephrata, Pa. / Ephrata) became the fourth distinct Colonial to qualify for the IC4A Championships with his effort in the triple jump at Penn State. Njenga placed fifth in the event with a personal-best mark of 14.45 meters. That figure also represents the best performance by a NEC athlete this season.
 
Junior Shane Witmyer (West Lawn, Pa. / Wilson) contributed a pair of top-six finishes for the second straight meet. Witmyer was third in the long jump with a personal-best mark of 6.81 meters. He also was sixth in the high jump with a leap of 1.94 meters.
 
Junior Malcolm Ayers (Clarksburg, Md. / Clarksburg) notched a top-four finish in the 200-meter dash for the second straight meet as he crossed the line in 22.26 seconds to finish in fourth.
 
Senior Nicolas Gentile (Sarver, Pa. / Freeport) placed 11th out of 49 entrants in the 500-meter dash as he clocked in at 1:06.01. Fellow classmate Dorian Rumble (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Penn Hills) added a top-15 finish in the event with a time of 1:06.71.
 
RMU's 4x400 meter relay squad came in sixth place with a time of 3:23.55. The group consisted of Ayers, sophomore Mark Ayitey (East Pittsburgh, Pa. / Woodland Hills), senior Abraham Roy (Middletown, Pa. / Middletown Area) and senior Chris Carper (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona).
 
RMU's 4x800 meter relay squad posted the fourth-fastest time in school history, stopping the clock at 8:02.20. The quartet included sophomore Sachin Natarajan (Plainsboro, N.J. / West Windsor-Plainsboro North), senior Fred Thompson (Turtle Creek, Pa. / Woodland Hills), Rumble and Gentile.
 
RMU is scheduled to be back in action next weekend when it takes part in the Al Hall Freedom Games Saturday, Jan. 18, in Edinboro, Pa.