Rowan men’s track and field excels at Oscar Moore Invitational

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Rowan University only hosts one track and field meet each year.

This year, the Oscar Moore Invitational yielded solid results for the brown and gold.

“We were great,” said Rowan men’s track and field coach Dustin Dimit. “Our guys really stepped up and had some great performances. A lot of marks that will get them into nationals or high up in the national list.”

The Profs took first place in the long jump, triple jump, high jump, 100 meter, 1500 meter, 400 meter and 400-meter hurdles. The 4×100 relay team, as well as the 4×400 relay team, also took first.

In field events, Rowan took first in the hammer throw and swept the top-three spots in the discus.

Meet records were set in the long jump, 100 meter, high jump and 4×400 relay.

“Our guys love competing at home,” Dimit said. “They always compete well here, so we’re excited that later in the year, the NJAC Championships will be here.”

The men’s team has shown no signs of a delay in switching over from the indoor season to the outdoor one, evident in the team’s national ranking.

The brown and gold currently sit second in week No. 2 of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.

“This is what we expected,” Dimit said. “I didn’t know if it would happen this quickly, but when I took the job here, I knew that this was the type of school that could do it. I thought we could build a program that could compete at that level every year. Three years in, it’s great.”

Despite the high ranking, Dimit doesn’t think that his team will be complacent.

He said that since the team won the conference and the region a year ago, they have higher goals this season.

“They’ve put in the work starting in August and September,” Dimit said. “We’re trying to reach the goal of winning a national title as a team, at worst be top four and be a trophy team.”

The schedule continues on for the Profs at Johns Hopkins University on Friday as they compete in the Hopkins/Loyola Invitational.

Dimit said he’s hoping to improve the relay teams and to help athletes that have national-qualifying marks in their central events to qualify for other events.

He added that he’s hoping some people drop in their times, seeing as seconds can be the difference in trying to qualify for nationals.

“We know we’ll do well as a team overall, but at this point we’re not worried about the other meets,” Dimit said. “It’s supposed to be mid-60s and low winds, so we should do well.”

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