Columbia, S.C.  The St. Johns University mens and womens track and field team kicked off the outdoor season with a strong performance at the Weems Baskin Sprint Relays at South Carolina University. Competing against track powerhouses, such as South Carolina and Georgia Southern, the Red Storm made its mark.

Senior Dinah Mensah (Bronx, N.Y.) opened up her final outdoor season with a victory in the 800m. Mensah easily defeated the rest of the field and qualified for the BIG EAST championships, coming in at 2:16.02. Teammate Tiffany Barnes (Queens Village, N.Y.) placed sixth in the same event with a time of 2:24.26.

Senior Roslyn Coddette (Brooklyn, N.Y.) took fourth place in the 400m low hurdles, posting a 1:03.54 time.

Both the womens 4x100M relay and the womens 4x400m relay placed third. South Carolina won both relays, but the Red Storm kept it close. The 4x100M and 4x400M relays have now qualified for the ECAC championships in May.

Michelle Hickman has joined the Red Storm squad for her final season of eligibility. In her first meet for St. Johns, Hickman placed second in the triple jump with a 12.14m mark and qualified for both the ECAC and BIG EAST championships. Teammate Alina Abramova (Armavik, Russia) placed right behind Hickman in the triple jump with a BIG EAST championship qualifying mark of 11.63. Abramova also qualified for BIG EAST in the long jump with a sixth place finish of 5.47m.

Sheba George (Brooklyn, N.Y.), the reigning ECAC champion in the weight throw, had a strong performance in three events this weekend. In the shot put, George took third place with a mark of 13.29m and qualified for the BIG EAST championships. With an ECAC qualifying performance of 51.74m, George took third place in the hammer throw. George also placed 11th in the discus throw with a 37.41m mark.

Mariah Mauer (Kingston, N.Y.) won the triple jump event with a 14.71m mark. Mauers mark was good enough to qualify for both the IC4A and BIG EAST championships. In the long jump, Mauer placed 14th with a 6.24 performance.

Ed Hausdorf (Bellerose, N.Y.) also won his event, the javelin throw with a 57.27m mark. Hausdorf, the St. Johns record holder in the javelin, had a near personal best performance this weekend.

Matt Cotter (Kingston, R.I.) placed third in the 800m and qualified for the BIG EAST championships. In just the first meet of the outdoor season, Cotter ran a 1:55.09, just off his personal best of 1:53.72.

Jason Goulart (Providence, R.I.), the defending BIG EAST champion in the hammer throw, placed third in the hammer with a 52.49m mark.

The Red Storm will return to action this weekend at two different events. The throwers and distance runners will be heading to San Diego, Calif. for the UCSD Invitational, while the rest of the team will travel north to West Point for the Army Invitational.