Rider’s Mariah Stephens won the hurdles with a PR and the No. 4 time in school history as part of a triple win in her season-opening outdoor meet on her home track in Lawrenceville.
Stephens, an Egg Harbor Township graduate, ran 14.12 in the 100-meter hurdles and triple jumped 38-10 ¼ at the Rider 5-Way Meet Sunday in Lawrenceville. She also ran a leg on the winning 4-by-100.
All three performances are No. 1 in the Metro Atlantic Conference two weeks into the season.
In the hurdles, Stephens ran unpressed, winning by seven meters over Magdalena Brogioli of Sacred Heart of Fairfield, Conn., who ran 14.99. The wind was a legal 1.4.
Stephens’ previous PR was 14.19 from the ECAC Championships last May in Williamsburg, Va. That was actually her last outdoor meet. Her 14.12 is only 4-100ths of a second from 2nd-fastest time in school history. Sara Gardner set the school record of 13.41 at the 2018 Metro Atlantic Championships in Lawrenceville.
In the triple jump, Stephens hit 38-10 ¼ on her second attempt. She had a second 38-10 ¼ later in her series that was slightly wind-aided at 2.1. Stephens ranks 3rd in Rider history at 39-7 ¾ from the same meet last year.
Stephens also ran the second leg on Rider’s first-place 400-meter relay team, which ran 47.23 and won by 15 meters over Sacred Heart. The 47.23 is No. 3 in school history and only 29-100ths of a second off the school record of 46.94 that Rider ran last year at Princeton with both Genesis Walker of Bordentown and Stephens running the first two legs.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 