CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - Five members of the Iona College men's outdoor track team competed at the Virginia Challenge at Lannigan Field. A seventh-place finish in the 1500-meter invitational event by junior
Mael Gouyette was the top performance by the Gaels at the meet hosted by the University of Virginia.
1500-METER INVITATIONAL
Gouyette finished seventh overall behind six ACC performers in 3:42.13. His Iona personal best and IC4A qualifying time in the event was also the fastest in the MAAC this season by more than four seconds. The MAAC's Top 10 performances in the 1500 event so far this season features five Gaels, coincidentally the five that competed in Virginia this weekend.
The time is also the third fastest time in school history, behind a pair of Iona Hall of Famers Tim Bayley (3:41.66) and Brian Roche (3:42.00). The Gaels' next five times feature a who's who in Iona history including Declan O'Callaghan (3:42.42),
Richard Kiplagat (3:43.58),
Liam Dee (3:42.86), Chartt Miller (3:43.53) and Leonard Korir (3:43.65).
800-METER EVENTS
Gouyette and sophomore
Nick Soldevere competed in separate 800-meter events in Virginia. Soldevere competed in the invitational heats finishing 14th overall with a personal best and IC4A qualifying time of 1:50.15, lowering his previous best from last weekend by nearly a half second. It was the second fastest time among MAAC competitors this season.
Soldevere's time ranks sixth all-time in Iona history, standing behind Bill Martin (1:46.63), Tim Bayley (1:46.64), David Brosnan (1:48.78), Jeff Piper (1:48.90) and
Richard Kiplagat (1:50.01).
Running his first outdoor 800 event in Maroon & Gold, Gouyette posted a 1:52.95, good for 36th place and the fifth fastest MAAC time in 2022.
5000-METER EVENTS
A trio of Gaels competed two separate 5k events. Sophomore
Joshua DeSouza recorded the top time, finishing 19th in the invitational heats in a personal best time of 13:47.81. He shattered his previous best time last April by seven seconds. DeSouza posted the fastest time in the MAAC in 2022, as the three best this season came from Virginia this weekend.
The third fastest MAAC 5k time came from
Jonathan DeSouza who finished 23rd in 13:54.51. It was a personal best time for DeSouza, who shattered his previous outdoor best by more than 10 seconds.
Sandwiched between the DeSouza brothers among best MAAC times was Siena's Brandon Olden who posted a 13:51.97.
Junior
Jamie Dee rounded out the Iona competitors in the 5k with an IC4A qualifying time of 14:13.24.
IONA COMPETITORS
800 invite:
Nick Soldevere, 14th, 1:50.15.
800:
Mael Gouyette, 36th, 1:52.95.
1500 Invite:
Mael Gouyette, 7th, 3:42.13.
5k invite:
Joshua DeSouza, 19th, 13:47.81.
5k:
Jonathan DeSouza, 23rd, 13:54.51;
Jamie Dee, 47th, 14:13.24.
UP NEXT
The Gaels split squad action continues next week at the Payton Jordan Invitational in Stanford, CA and the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, PA.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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