MAHWAH, N.J. – Three records fell for the Manhattanville College track and field teams as the Valiants closed out March at the Ramapo College Invitational on Friday and Saturday with the throwers taking center stage at the meet. The men's team finished 10^th in the team rankings, while the women's squad finished in 11^th.

All three record-setting performances took place on Saturday as three Valiant freshmen etched their names atop the program record books. Tevaughn Stewart (Bronx, N.Y./Denzel Washington School of the Arts) started with a distance of 40.52 meters in the hammer throw, placing sixth overall in the event. Stewart's throw ranks in the top 20 among all Division III freshmen this year. Stewart's classmate Matt Boggi (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) shattered the program record in the discus with a recorded distance of 35.67 meters to take seventh in the event.

The pair were joined by Gabrielle Billetz (Clarksburg, Mass./Hoosac Valley) in the historic weekend as the rookie set a new top-mark in the women's discus. Billetz recorded a throw of 36.06 meters to take second-place overall in the event as her distance ranks in the top 15 amongst all freshmen throwers in 2024.

Billetz and Boggi would both also post throws in the shot put for the Valiants on Friday. Boggi took eighth with a throw of 11.19 meters, while Billetz posted a distance of 9.52 meters to also place eighth. Fiona Yostpille (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon Senior) also competed in the shot put and discus, placing 10^th (9.24m) and ninth (30.81m) in the events, respectively.

The Valiants competed in XX running events over the course of the two days. Jen Schmidt (Williston Park, N.Y./Herricks) represented the women in the 100 and 200 dashes, placing 23^rd (13.81) and 21^st (28.46), respectively. Orquidea Briceno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) took 17^th in the 800-meter with a time of 2:42.49 to round out the women's team performances.

On the men's side, Curtis Staie (Adams, N.Y./South Jefferson) (30^th, 25.01) and Matthew Friday (Bronx, N.Y./AECI Charter) (42^nd, 28.08) ran the 200-meter dash. Shai Graham (Bronx, N.Y./Bronx Theatre High School) took to the track for the 400 dash with a time of 54.85 seconds, good for 13^th overall.

Joey DeMilio (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) and Jaivan Burgos (Bronx, N.Y./NYC iSchool) both ran the 800 meter for the Valiants, with the rookie DeMilio earning two points for the team in the standings with a seventh-place finish in 2:01.80. Burgos finished the run in 2:14.74 to placed 23^rd overall. Roberto Schneiger (New York, N.Y./Urban Academy Lab) ran the 1500 meter and took 28^th overall, clocking in at 4:44.33. In the final distance race, Daniel Baldessarre (Highland Mills, N.Y./Monroe Woodbury) took 18^th in the 5000 meter as he crossed in 18:28.21.

Courtney Brown (Clarendon, Jamaica/Mount Vernon) had a strong showing in the 400 meter hurdle, placing fifth with a time of 59.07 to claim four more points for the Valiants on the leaderboard.

The men went on to run both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. In the shorter race, Staie, Zach Garrant (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill High School), Brown and Graham placed seventh with a time of 45.17. Brown and Garrant then teamed up with Burgos and DeMilio in the 4x400, finishing the relay in 3:37.29 to place sixth.

Up Next
The Valiants head to New Haven next weekend to compete in the Wilton Wright Invitational, hosted by Southern Connecticut State.

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