NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Southern Connecticut State University men's track and field team hosted the Art Kidish Elm City Challenge at James Moore Field House on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. Southern competed against athletes from Bentley, Bridgewater State, Felician, Franklin Pierce, New Haven, Post, Saint Rose, Southern New Hampshire, and Stonehill. Southern finished in first place with 172 points, ahead of second place finisher New Haven, who had 109 points.

Track Events

• Naji Middleton (Bloomfield, Conn.) finished in first place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.59, while Joshua Lanzieri (Seymour, Conn.) finished in second place with a time of 22.87 in this collegiate debut. Rocco Samoker (Derby, Conn.) finished in sixth place with a time of 23.64. 
• Middleton also finished in third place in the 55-meter dash with a personal-best time of 6.42, while Messiah Harling finished in fifth place with a time of 6.51. 
• Peter Fuller (Canton, Conn.) finished in fifth place in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.31, and Jared Russo (Hamden, Conn.) finished in sixth place with a time of 8.54. 
• In the 800-meter run, Marquis Whyte (New London, Conn.) finished in first place with a time of 2:00.69, while Quentin Askew (Middletown, Conn.) finished in second place with a time of 2:02.62. Nolan Scott (Branford, Conn.) finished in fourth place with a time of 2:05.42 and Aidan Knappe (Waterbury, Conn.) finished in fifth place with a time of 2:05.43. 

Field Events

• Nate Llanos (Danbury, Conn.) finished in first place in the pole vault with a mark of 4.40 meters. Oliver Hayes (Ridgefield, Conn.) finished in second place with a mark of 4.25 meters, while Shane Smith (Pawcatuck, Conn.) finished in fourth place with a mark of 3.95 meters.
• Joshua Lanzieri finished in first place in the long jump with a leap of 6.93 meters, and Messiah Harling finished in sixth place with a leap of 6.59 meters. 
• Harling also finished in first place in the triple jump with a leap of 14.66 meters, while Devin Cue (New Haven, Conn.) finished in sixth place with a leap of 13.33 meters. 
• Gary Robinson Jr. (Montclair, N.J.) finished in first place in the weight throw with a personal-best mark of 16.24 meters, while Adelino De Daveiga (Cape Verde), making his Southern debut, finished in fourth place with a mark of 13.75 meters. 
• Peter Fuller (Canton, Conn.) finished in second place in the high jump with a mark of 2.01 meters. Fuller's leap momentarily broke the Elm City Challenge meet record, before Ja'lil Reynolds recorded a leap of 2.04 meters on the final attempt to claim the top spot. The previous record was 2.00 meters, set by Matthew Jeune of New Haven in 2014. Fuller's leap was also the best mark by a Southern athlete since Nick Lebron also had a 2.01 meter leap on April 22, 2014. Dylan Torok (Monroe, Conn.) finished in third place with a leap of 1.90 meters. 
• Natanael Barbosa Torres (Willimantic, Conn.) finished in second place in the shot put with a mark of 15.49 meters, while Cameron Belton (Baltic, Conn.) finished in third place with a mark of 15.28 meters. Jacob Meadows (New Milford, Conn.) finished in fifth place with a mark of 14.94 meters, while De Daveiga finished in ninth place with a mark of 13.53 meters.

Up Next
Southern has a busy second week of action before the holiday break, as they will compete in the URI Multi-Event on Dec. 9 and Dec. 10 and the Yale Season Opener Saturday, Dec. 11.