MAHWAH, NJ – Manhattanville University Track and Field opened the second half of the season at the Ramapo College Season Opener, where the Men's team competed in four individual events and one relay. The Women's team competed in two running events and the Shot Put.

John Castaneda (Howell, N.J./Howell) and Alexander Carney led the way for the Valiants, placing second and third out of 28 in the 60m. Castaneda ran a personal best of 7.40, and Carney came in right behind with a 7.43.
Shai Graham (Bronx, N.Y./Bronx Theatre High School) had a season-topping outing in the 200m, finishing in the top 25 (21) out of 67 dashers, with 23.27. Next to cross the finish line was Aka Udeagha (Rye, N.Y./Rye) (39th) with 24.02. Not far behind with a time of 24.73 was Khalil Williams (Menands, N.Y./Shaker) (50th), and the final Valiant to complete was Christian Zita (Freehold, N.J./Colts Neck) with a time of 26.81.
Joey Demilio went the distance for the Vals with a season-best 4:46.35 in the one mile, finishing 22nd out of 43. Zach Garrant (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill High School) was the next to finish with 5:03.34, coming in 34th, followed closely by Danny Noia (Honolulu, Hawaii/McKinley) (36th) and Courtney Brown (Clarendon, Jamaica/Mount Vernon) (38th), who ran a 5:11.74 and 5:20.15, respectively.  
The 4x400m relay, composed of Brown, Demilio, Zita, Perez, Castaneda, Carney, placed top 20 (19th) with a time of 3:46.70.
Luca Perez (Somers, N.Y./Somers) represented Manhattanville in the long jump, finishing with a jump of 4.95m.

For the women's team, Jayda Birch (Queens, N.Y./Excelsior Preparatory) and Alicia Bibi (Marlborough, Mass./Marlborough) recorded personal bests in their respective events. Birch (54th) fronted the trio competing in the 200m with 30.01, Saage Palmer (Brooklyn, N.Y./Medgar Evers College Preparatory School) (59th) was next in suit with 30.39, followed by Lilly Savnik (Mastic, N.Y./William Floyd)  (71st) with a time of 34.04. Bibi was the sole representative in the one mile, running a 7:09.22.
Birch also competed for the Valiants in the shot put, finishing in eighth overall with 10.77m. Finishing next in ninth, Gabby Billetz recorded a 10.07m throw.

Up Next – The Valiants head to two separate invitationals, with part of the squad traveling to New Haven, Conn., to compete in the William Sutherland Invitational, while the other part will go to Middletown, Conn., for the Wesleyan University Indoor Invite on Saturday, January 24.