Track and Field Competes at Famed Franklin Field in 2021 Philly Mets

File photo of Joshua Varghese. Copyright 2021; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo by Brad Boardman. April 10, 2021 at Eastern Shore Challenge at Salisbury University.
File photo of Joshua Varghese. Copyright 2021; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo by Brad Boardman. April 10, 2021 at Eastern Shore Challenge at Salisbury University.
Posted: Apr 24, 2021

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - The Wilmington University track and field programs competed at famed Franklin Field on Saturday, taking part in the 2021 Philadelphia Metropolitan Collegiate Invitational.

Takin part in place of the historic Penn Relays, the Philly Mets featured all the relay events, as well as mid and distance races, as well as the typical field events.

Joshua Varghese broke his own marks in the discus and hammer throw on Saturday, finishing a day's best fourth place in the discus. He bested his previous mark by nearly three meters, finishing fourth of 12 with a toss of 46.43 meters. He also finished seventh out of 10 throwers in the hammer, setting new program best with a hurl of 47.90 meters. He also competed in the shot put, finishing in eighth with a distance of 12.97 meters.

The relay team of Jimmy Keenan, Matt Hibbert, Tyler Levons, and Taf Bunu had their best performance in the 4x100 meter event, racing to a fourth-place finish with a time or 42.41 seconds. The 4x400 meter relay team also had their best performance of the year, as Hibbert, Devin Valenzuela, Bunu, and Keenan placed seventh overall with a time of 3:35.21.

Valenzuela also competed in the 1,500-meter event, placing 13th out of 22 with a time of 4:21.74 while Daniel Wyshinski finished 22nd in the 5,000-meter with his second fastest time of the year, crossing the line at 16:12.99. Mitchell Coll threw the javelin a distance of 39.57 meters, his second best of the year, finishing sixth.

On the women's side, Yailynn Ramirez set a new program best in the 5,000-meter event, besting her own mark by more than 46 seconds to finish 15th overall with a time of 19:33.05. Alexa Crowell ran the mid-distance 1,500-meter event with a 15th place finish, crossing the line in a team best this year, 5:20.72.

Vivianna Caamano threw the discus 22.18 meters for a 15th place finish while also tossing the hammer 24.09 meters for a 14th place finish. Lina Boussif was the final competitor for the Wildcats, finishing 15th in the hammer throw with a distance of 18.79 meters.

The Wildcats have one meet before the postseason, as they head to Rowan University on Saturday to take part in the Fast Times Before Finals.