Boston, Mass. - The St. John's University womens track & field team finished in a two-way tie for seventh place of 50 teams, this past weekend at the ECAC championships held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Mass. The mens team finished in a six-way tie for 26th place at the IC4A championships, also held this weekend at the Reggie Lewis Center. The University of Pittsburgh women were declared ECAC champions, while the Penn State men took the IC4A crown.

Sheba George (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was crowned the ECAC champion in the womens weight throw with an 18.23m mark (5909.75). Georges nearest competitor was Natalie Grant from Harvard who posted an 18.20m performance (5908.50). On February 10, George posted a season-best 18.25m in the weight throw, which currently ranks as the 29th best performance during the 2001 indoor season. That performance, which meets the NCAA provisional qualifying standard, may give George an NCAA championship bid. George also performed very well in the shot put event this weekend. With a 14.32m mark (4611.75), George earned fourth place.

Tiffany Barnes (Queens Village, N.Y.) clocked a 1:13.19 in the 500m, earning runner-up honors. Barnes finished second to Trenance Elliot of Pittsburgh, who ran a 1:12.24. Barnes won her heat in a time of 1:13.21, for the right to advance to the finals.

Tiehise Shell (Hollis, N.Y.) was the seventh of eight qualifiers for the 200m finals with a time of 24.71. Then in the finals, Shell battled for anywhere between third and seventh place. The women in the fourth, fifth and sixth spots all finished within six hundredths of second. Shell emerged in the sixth position with a 24.58 time. Judy Williams (Philadelphia, Pa.) also ran in the 200m prelims, posting a 26.10 for 20th place overall.

In the womens 400m race, Nicol Corsey (Wanonah, N.J.) placed seventh overall in a time of 56.66. During the prelimaries, Corsey posted a 55..35, finishing second behind eventual ECAC champion Tia Tabb of Pittsburgh. Dinah Mensah (Bronx, N.Y.) recorded a 2:11.17 in the 800m and just failed to qualify for the finals. The eighth and final qualifier posted a 2:11.07 in the prelims.

The womens 4x400m relay (Mensah, Barnes, Shell, Corsey) placed fifth overall in a time of 3:45.79. In the prelims, the women were the fifth qualifiers with a 3:45.37 mark. In the finals, the team ran in section I, easily beating their three other opponents. The section II teams all posted better times than St. Johns, therefore giving the Red Storm fifth place.

The top finisher for the men was George Maringapasi (Harare, Zimbabwe), who finished second in the high jump with a 2.10m mark (610.75). Maringapasi won the IC4A high jump championship last year with a school-record 71 performance. This years champion, Jarrad Pencek of Robert Morris College, just beat out Maringapasi with a mark of 2.14m.

Mariah Mauer (Kingston, N.Y.) took 10th place in the triple jump with a 14.51m performance (4707.25). Mauer just missed out on scoring, finishing just .13m behind the final scorer.

Blessing Chimwanda (Harare,Zimbabwe) placed 20th overall in the mens 500m with a time of 1:05.09. In the 200m dash, Damion Kenwood (Brooklyn, N.Y.) posted a 22.16 time and finished tied for 19th place. The mens 4x800m relay finished in 13th place (7:41.38), failing to make the finals.

For complete results from the ECAC/IC4A championships visit the ECAC website at www.ecac.com.