STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The East Stroudsburg University men's track and field team had a strong start to their indoor season as the Warriors recorded 20 PSAC qualifying marks or times, one NCAA provisional mark and broke a pair of freshman records at St. Thomas Aquinas' Spartan Invitational on Friday from the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex.

15 different Warriors would compile 20 PSAC qualifying marks including Kobe Jenkins (60mH), Joshua Rand (60mH), Caleb Carney (60mH), Raul Esteves (60m, 200m), Donavan Anderson (60m, long jump), Tyler Boone (60m, 200m), Zandray Thompson (200m), Brian McGarrity (Mile), Aaron Sanchez (High Jump), Daniel Smith (High Jump), Micah Cooper (pole vault), Isaac Almoney (shot put, weight throw), Daryn Blackwell (weight throw), Cole Gorham (shot put) and Anthony Voto (shot put, weight throw).

Anderson notched the NCAA provisional mark in the long jump and joined Voto in shattering the freshman records for their respective events.

Running Highlights

The Warriors opened the day with a trio of top-eight finishes in the 60m hurdles as junior transfer Jenkins (8.44) led the way in third, followed by Joshua Rand (8.50) in fourth and Carney (8.77) in eighth, each producing a PSAC qualifying mark.

ESU followed it up with an impressive showing in the 60m dash as Anderson (7.02) won the event while Esteves (7.07) took fourth and Boone (7.09) finished seventh. The trio of Warriors all notched a conference qualifying time while Anderson notched the sixth fastest mark in program history.

In the mile, McGarrity led the Warriors in sixth with a PSAC qualifying time of 4:19.93 while Luke Valdevit (17th – 4:31.75) and Landon Boyle (18th – 4:32.11) finished a few seconds shy of the mark.

The Warriors recorded a trio of PSAC qualifiers in the 200m as Boone paced ESU with a time of 22.36, followed by Thompson (22.57) in seventh while Esteves (22.60) was right behind in eighth.

In the DMR Valdevit, Boyle, Trey Boyd and McGarrity posted an 11th place finish with a time of 10:54.38.

Competing in the 500m, Ryan Ditty (1:07.23) was the highest finisher for the Warriors in third, followed by Rand (5th – 1:08.65) and Liam Beifus (8th – 1:09.61).

ESU closed out the day on the track by taking eighth place in the 4x400m as the relay team of Jaylen Morrison, Caleb Diaz, Ditty and Jenkins clocked a time of 3:35.34.

Field Event Highlights

After competing on the track, Anderson turned his attention to the sand pit where he claimed first place in the long jump with a leap of 7.35m (24-1 ¼). Anderson's effort broke a 38-year-old freshman record, was the second-best mark in program history and ranks atop of the PSAC. Other Warriors competing in the event were Jack Gorham in sixth at 6.50m (21-4) and Daniel Smith in 10th at 6.33m (20-9 ¼).

The Warriors dominated the weight throw as Blackwell, Almoney and Voto each recorded a conference qualifying mark on their way to second, third and fourth places. Blackwell notched a personal-best mark of 17.06m (56-0) and Almoney recorded a throw of 16.99m (55-9). Voto shattered the freshman, which was set back in 2012 by Travis Toth, with a toss of 16.99m (55-9).

ESU claimed second through fourth place finishes in the shot put as Almoney was the runner-up with a mark of 15.10m (49-6 ½), followed by Gorham in third at 15.07m (49-5 ¼) and Voto in fourth with a throw of 14.55m (47-8 ¾). All three Warriors recorded PSAC qualifying marks.

Making his ESU debut, Cooper paced the Warriors in the pole vault as the sophomore cleared the bar at a PSAC qualifying height of 4.32m (14-2) in his way to taking third. Robert Plumb (4.17m – 13-8 ¼), Chris Costa (4.17m – 13-8 ¼) and Evan Clark (3.72m – 12-2 ½) finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

In the high jump, the Warriors earned a pair of PSAC qualifiers as Smith tied for fifth after clearing the bar at 1.88m (6-2) while Sanchez finished tied for 10th with a mark of 1.88m (6-2) on his second attempt.

Up Next

ESU returns to competition on Saturday, January 21 when the Warriors travel to Bucknell for the Gulden Invitational. Events get underway at 10 a.m. from inside Gerhard Fieldhouse.