QUEENS, N.Y. - The Red Storm track & field team opened the new year on the right foot, tallying four BIG EAST qualifying scores and two first place finishes at the 26th Annual Yale Intercollegiate Track Classic at Yale University's Coxe Cage in New Haven, Conn., on Saturday.

Graduate student Kellie Brown won the triple jump event, earning the Red Storm's first BIG EAST qualifying distance of the season, jumping for 11.36 meters (37 feet, 3.25 inches) to defeat the 12 other competitors. Sophomore Fayanne Francis came in third in the same event with a distance of 11.08 meters (36 feet, 4.25 inches). Bintou Dibba, Marie Griffiths and Priscilla Frederick also competed in the event finishing sixth, eighth and tenth, respectively.

Sophomore Pam Petruski placed first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.32. Fellow cross country teammates Shakira Best, Rakibat Abiola and Ashlee Payne followed, coming in eighth, ninth and 17th, respectively.

Earning BIG EAST qualifying scores and placing second in their respective events were juniors Venisa Clarke-Lee and Phobay Kutu-Akoi. Clarke-Lee jumped to a 1.70 meter (5 feet, 7 inches) BIG EAST qualifying mark in the high jump, while Kutu-Akoi ran the 60-meter dash in 7.70 seconds.

Frederick just missed a qualifying mark in the high jump by .01 meters, finishing fourth in the event with a distance of 1.65 meters (5 feet, 5 inches).

Also earning top marks was Tyneka Greene in the one mile event. After pacing St. John's through the cross country season, Greene finished second with a time of 5:14.97, in her first indoor season for the Red Storm.

With new depth to their mid-distance running core, the Red Storm's 4x800-meter relay team of Best, Payne, Greene and Sarah Sudbury finished third with a time of 10:01.18.

St. John's had two teams finish fourth and eighth in 4x400-meter relay. The fourth place team of Kutu-Akoi, Asia Davy, Asia Nettles and Rene Cousins finished with a time of 4:02.01; while the eighth place team of Rennalls, Dulmovits, Lauren Wynter and Petruski ran for a time of 4:14.64.

For the most up-to-date information and statistics on St. John's cross country and track & field please visit www.RedStormSports.com or call our hotline at 1-888-GO-STORM.