New York, NY (2/24/12) – Junior Heather Gearity (Rutherford, NJ, Rutherford) and Ashadaya Patterson (Trenton, NJ, Northern Burlington) and freshman Imani Jones (Roselle, NJ, Abraham Clark) each won individual titles and then helped set a new school record in the 4x200 relay as the Montclair State women’s indoor track and field team placed fourth at the 2012 New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships at the New Balance Track and Field Center on Friday afternoon.

The Red Hawks registered eight Top 3 finishes in the 18-event meet totaling 88 points. Montclair finished behind team champion Ramapo, which dethroned The College of New Jersey for the title. The Lions, who won the first 14 NJAC indoor crowns, placed second followed by Rowan University. The fourth-place finish is the highest for Montclair State at the meet since 2007 when it also placed fourth.

Gearity captured her second straight championship in the 400 meters as she outpaced the finals field with a time of 57.39 seconds, a full second ahead of the second-place finisher. Gearity lowered her winning time from last season (57.97) by nearly six-tenths of the second. Sheneya Murphy (Somerdale, NJ, Collingswood) and Stephanie Fego (Verona, NJ, Verona) came in behind at ninth (personal best 1:01.40) and 10th (personal best 1:01.64) to give MSU three competitors in the Top 10.

Jones came within an eyelash of reaching the Montclair State record in the 200 meters as she blazed to victory with a time of 25.94 seconds, missing out on Judline Tumson’s 2008 school record by three-tenths of a second. Junior Ashley Powell (Orange, NJ, Marylawn of the Oranges) was third at 26.20. Jones would also place third in the 60 meters (8.03 seconds / 7.98 prelims) with Powell coming in sixth (8.20 seconds / 8.12 prelims).

Patterson, who last year placed third in the hurdles event (55 meters), ran to the top spot of the podium in 2012 as she took home the 60 meter hurdles championship. She ran 9.21 seconds to claim the title. Gearity was fourth in the event at 9.44 seconds.

Jones, Powell, Gearity and Patterson would also play key roles in the relay events as well. The quartet finished second in the 4x200 relay with a new school record time of 1:44.08, eclipsing the mark of 1:44.70 set in last year's NJAC Championship. Murphy replaced Powell for the 4x400 relay with that group posting a time of 3:59.17 to place second as well.

Patterson placed seventh in the 200 meters (26.84) and Nicole Presti was ninth in the mile at 5:49.65. Freshman Dominique Williams (Lumberton, NJ, Rancocas Valley) and sophomore Angelina Ollo (Parsippany, NJ, Parsippany) were both 11th in the 400 meters (personal best 1:01.83) and 800 meters (2:27.12), respectively while the 4x800 relay team of Ollo, Michelle Armando Padavano (Rahway, NJ, Mother Seton), Tishonda Torrence (Irvington, NJ, Bloomfield Tech) and Sara Douma (West Milford, NJ, West Milford) were fifth with a time of 10:31.29.

In the field events, freshman Shannon Kermah (Woodland Hills, CA, Burroughs) was ninth in the long jump with a distance of 5.03 meters while also placing ninth in the triple jump (10.26. meters). Douma finished sixth in the triple jump at 10.72 meters while Murphy came in 10th in the long jump (4.51 meters).

Freshman Tanaya Jones (Newark, NJ, Weequahic) recorded a pair of Top 10 finishes as she was fifth in the weight throw at 12.33 meters and eighth in the shot put at 10.14 meters.

The Red Hawks are scheduled to compete next Saturday, March 3 at the Columbia Last Chance Meet.