WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ (March 26, 2016) -- The Vassar College men's track team toed the track for the first time as an entire squad on Saturday afternoon, heading to the Monmouth Season Opener at Monmouth College.

"Proud of the efforts today, it was very early and it is promising to see great results and PR's early on, but even more special to see Vassar getting out and competing tough wherever we are, learning from the effort, and becoming better for it as the season goes on," said interim coordinator of track and cross country James McCowan.

"The first three meets of the season are set up so we can improve the process of what we have been doing in practice but in a competition setting," said head track coach Justin Harris. "Many of our athletes had clear process goals and executed them very well. It is early in the season and not everyone had the marks they wanted but it starts with process and effort. Ramapo will be another great opportunity to focus on some shorter events for the big chunk of the team."

Sophomore Michael Scarlett started the season strong in the 1500 meter run, as he took ninth with a 4:05.14, just nipping his previous personal best of 4:05.58 from last season. Fellow sophomore Philip Brown ran well in the 1500 meter as well, posting a personal best of 4:09.32, and freshman Luke Arsenault was 16^th overall in the 1500m with a 4:07.64.

Freshman Ry Blume also showed well in the 1500, placing 22^nd while posting a time of 4:10.88, showing a huge kick at the end. In the 200 meter dash, Dylan Manning ran a 23.27 for 11^th place in a strong field, while Peter Winkeller was 18^th with a 23.52.

Sophomore Kyle Estrada is expecting big things this year, and he ran a very strong race in the 800, breaking his personal best with a 2:02.14 to take 14^th place. In the 5k, Jared Freedman was seventh overall with a 15:46.24, while Sam Kobrin, Jake Kobrin and Pedro Millard all ran their first track races for VC in the 5k.

Sam Kobrin posted a 16:13.34, followed closely by Millard and his 16:15.16. Jake Kobrin chalked up a 16:18.46, while sophomore Jesse Schatz was 15^th in the 5000 meters after running a 16:07.99. Senior Colin Hepburn posted a personal-best in the 10k, running the longest NCAA track race in 33:39.68, taking 11^th.

Senior Taylor Vann competed in the 400 meter hurdles as he gets ready to star in the decathlon again this season, posting a 1:00.19, just missing his personal-best time of 59.98 in the event. Vassar's 4x400 meter "A" relay competed, as Manning, Vann, Gabe Fishman and Estrada finished fourth with a time of 3:24.55.

Vann also threw the javelin on Saturday, placing tenth with a heave of 49.38m.

"We are happy for lessons learned today as well as for the exciting performances, and look forward to putting together another excellent meet next week and even better ones later in the season," said McCowan.

The Brewers will head to Ramapo College next Saturday morning at 9 a.m. for the Roadrunner Invitational in Mahwah, NJ.