PHILADELPHIA – Christian Farhat's gold medal in the shot put headlined a host of impressive performances for the TCNJ men's track and field team on the first day of the NJAC Indoor Championship on Saturday at UPenn.
 
The Lions racked up six medals and put themselves in position for more on Sunday, ultimately wrapping up the night in second place with 66 team points. TCNJ trails first-place Rowan by just 14 points and is 40 points clear of Stockton in third.
 
MEDAL WINNERS

• Farhat led a 1-2 finish for the Lions in the shot put, throwing 15.38 meters to capture his first career conference medal and edge teammate Jayden Wright (15.28 meters)
• Jack Attali, Noah Traverso, Anthony Senatore, and Maxim Rychkov were runners-up in the 4x200 relay, crossing the finish line in 1:26.24 to finish about a second behind Rowan; the time was a school record by a wide margin, but the Lions had the misfortune of competing with a Profs foursome that broke the Division III all-time record 
• Tyler DeMarco claimed bronze in the pole vault with a mark of 4.25 meters; he cleared 4.00 meters on his third and final try and needed only one attempt to clear 4.25
• Matthew Granizo was third in the 5000 meters, finishing in a season-best time of 15:07.53
• Ryan Donnelly took third in the long jump with a personal-best leap of 6.94 meters, which ranks just outside the top-50 in Division III and puts him sixth all-time at TCNJ

OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES – TRACK

• Ray Schmitt (6.81) and Rychkov (6.84) went 1-2 in the prelims of the 60-meter dash and will run for gold in Sunday's final
• Attali qualified for the 60-meter hurdles final, placing seventh in the prelims with a time of 8.48 seconds
• Evan Melito (15:12.22) and Phil Pace (15:51.18) each earned places in the 5000 meters by finishing fifth and eighth, respectively
• Will Evarts, Aiden Ferraez, Anthony Thomas, and Kevin Matthews finished fourth in the distance medley relay (10:47.59)

OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES – FIELD

• Through four events, Jayvee Dumas leads the heptathlon standings with 2,563 points; he was first in the 60-meter dash (7.37) and the long jump (6.38 meters) as well as second in the high jump (1.83 meters) and third in the shot put (9.99 meters)
• Noah Traverso was just off the podium in the long jump, placing fourth with a mark of 6.70 meters
• Matthew Corrigan placed fifth in the pole vault, clearing 4.00 meters for the first time this season
• Stephen Daramola joined Farhat and Wright as place-winners in the shot put, taking sixth with a toss of 13.60 meters