WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ - The NJIT men's and women's track team competed in the 20th Annual Monmouth Season Opener at Monmouth University.

Twelve teams participated in the invitational. The Highlander men went 8-3 during the weekend invitational, and the women 7-4.

Freshman Alex Ortega had the best finish for the Highlanders coming in second in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 56.09.

In the 110-meter hurdles, freshman Joshua Olayinka led NJIT, coming in fifth with a time of 16.70, followed by freshmen Pritinder Singh (8th), Ortega(9th) and junior Michael Parada (10th).

Junior Michael Martins ran the 3000 meter steeplechase in 10:45.95 earning him a fourth place finish.

Sophomore Emmanuel Agyen placed seventh in both the 100 meter dash (11.40) and the 200 meter run (23.24).

In the field events, sophomore Kwadwo Banahene finished sixth and Pritinder Singh in eighth in the long jump and then fourth and fifth respectively in the triple jump. In the javelin throw junior Raj Das placed eighth with a distance of 41.96m and freshman David Singer came in ninth at 38.83m. Das also placed tenth in the hammer throw.

On the women's side, sophomore Cristina De Cristofaro, and freshmen Trish Roche and Kayleigh Stark all came in seventh in their respective events. De Cristofaro came in seventh in the long jump with a distance of 4.58m, Roche finished seventh in the triple jump with a distance of 8.91m, and Stark placed seventh with a 25.42m throw in the javelin.

The Highlanders will head to Princeton, NJ April 2-3 to compete at the Sam Howell Invitational.