The RCGC men's and women's track teams proved Saturday why they once again belong among the top NJCAA programs in the country.
In the annual Stockton Invitational, both the men's and womnen's teams turned in stellar performances against four-year NCAA programs, looking very much like the top junior college program in the nation.
Winners included:
* Sophomore Mike Dowd (Williamstown) in the men's 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:00.12
* Sophomore Adam Hunt, who captured the men's discus with a mark of 47.0 meters.
* Sophomore Elisia Lancaster, winner of the women's hammer throw with a toss of 48.87 meters; and
* Sophomore Emily Hilt, winner of the women's shot put with a throw of 12.57 meters.
One of the day's top performances came in the men's 800 meters, where freshman Jake Kolodziej blazed to a second place finish in 2:01.56, just short of champion Joe D'Amico of Stockton's 2:00.65 time.
Kolodziej made a push in the final turn, racing neck and neck with D'Amico before settling for the runnerup spot.
"I pushed as hard as I could in the final turn and I thought I had it," said Kolodziej. "He (D'Amico) had a little more at the end. It was a good battle."
Adam Hunt also grabbed a second place showing in the men's hammer throw with a toss of 49.77 meters.
Dowd finished 8th in the men's 1500 meters with a time of 4:22.83.
In the 400-meter dash, RCGC's Josh Hobbs finished 8th in a time of 58.99 seconds. In the 100-meter finals, the Runners' duo of Marquis Copeland (12.01 seconds) and Derek Gatling (12.27) placed fifth and seventh respectively.
Copeland, Hobbs and Gatling followed that outing with a 7-8-9 finish respectively in the 200-meter finals.
In women's competition, Lancaster had a second in the women's shot put with a throw of 12.25 meters, just behind teammate Emily Hilt.
Lancaster and Hilt also claimed a second and third respectively in the women's discus with marks of 37.27 and 34.16 respectively to close out their solid day of competition.
Catherine Hans also chipped in with a sixth place showing in the women's javelin.
In addition, sophomore McKenna Dowd (2:42..23) and Lyndsay Boyd (2:43.18) placed seventh and eighth respectively in the 800 meters.