Three MAAC Track & Field Athletes Head to Eugene
MAAC Sports
Edison, N.J. – Three of the MAAC’s Outdoor Track & Field student-athletes will compete in the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships held in Eugene, Ore. Among the athletes are Iona College’s Mitch Goose and Manhattan College’s Mohamed Koita and Tom Bechert.
Goose, a graduate student from Norwich, England, will compete in the 5,000-meter run after running his fastest time of the season in the event. Goose finished fourth overall and fourth in his heat with a time of 14:01.22. His time was less than a second out of second place and just over 10 behind the race winner. UNC Greensboro's Paul Chelimo (13:49.94), Virginia's Mark Amirault (14:00.54) and Penn State's Sam Masters (14:00.84) finished ahead of Goose.
Koita, a senior from Cergy, France, tied for eighth place in the high jump with a leap of 2.14 meters (seven feet, ¼ inch) at the NCAA East Preliminary Round from North Carolina A&T’s Aggie Stadium on Saturday night. Koita is the first Jasper high jumper to qualify for the NCAAs since 1988.
Bechert, a senior from Munich, Germany, will also compete for the Jaspers in the decathlon. Bechert automatically qualified for the event earlier this month. This marks the first time since 2009 that Manhattan will send multiple athletes to the NCAA Championship.
The NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field from June 5-8.