NEW YORK -- Freshman Kelli McDonald captured the women’s pole vault and Chris Dixon set a school record in the men’s 500 meters to highlight University of Delaware performances at the New York City Gotham Cup Indoor Track and Field Invitational Friday night at the New York City Armory.

The meet, which was hosted by New York University, was attended by some of the top teams in the region. The Delaware women placed eighth out of 31 teams in the women’s team standings while the Blue Hen men were tied for 15th out of 32 teams with 22 points. Villanova captured the team title for both men and women.

McDonald, a freshman from Phoenixville, PA (Phoenixville HS), won her second collegiate pole vault competition in three tries as she jumped 11-3 3/4. The Delaware women posted 13 top 10 finishes overall.

Other top Delaware women’s finishes included Rachel Young placing second in the shot put (43-4 1/2) and 12th in the weight throw (40-7), Colleen O’Brien placing third in the 5,000 meters with a career best time of 17:38.98, Toni Riggi placing third in the mile (5:28.87), Sari Weissbard placing fourth in the mile (5:31.32), Asha Quant finishing sixth in the long jump (17-9 1/4), Alexi Capsouras posting a ninth place finish with the second best 60-meter hurdles time in school history (9.33) and a 14th place finish in the 400 meters (1:01.05), and Paula Green placing 10th in the 60 meters with the third best time in school history (7.96).

For the Delaware men, Will Jurkowski (North Salem/North Salem, NY - at right) was third in the 1,000 meters (2:29.80), P.J. Meany was fourth in the seeded 5,000 meters (15:14.33), and Dixon (Hempfield/Manheim, PA) was third in the 500 meters with a time of 1:04.69, breaking the former UD record of 1:05.01 set by Nick McIntosh in 1995. Also for the Hens, Gregg Cantwell was sixth in the mile (4:25.77) and Chris Martens was seventh in the pole vault (13-9 1/4). The Blue Hens recorded 10 top 10 finishes overall.

Both Delaware teams will compete at the Maryland Indoor Invitational at Prince George’s, MD next Saturday, Jan. 21.

AGATE:

Men’s Final Team Standings: 1. Villanova - 119; 2. UMBC - 66; 3. Albany - 64; 4. Rider - 50.5; 5. New York University - 48; 6. Lehigh - 47; 7. Lincoln - 40; 8. Haverford - 39; 9. C.W. Post, Lafayette - 34; 11. Coppin State - 33; 12. Fordham - 31; 13. Delaware State - 30; 14. Quinnipiac - 23; 15. Delaware, Bowie State - 22.......31. Stevens Tech, La Salle- 1.

Delaware Men Finishers: 3rd - Will Jurkowski, 1,000m (2:29.80); 4th- P.J. Meany, 5,000m seeded (15:14.33); Chris Dixon, 500m (1:04.69); 6th- Gregg Cantwell, Mile (4:25.77); 7th - Chris Martens, pole vault (13-9 1/4); 8th - Brad Dodson, 3,000m seeded (8:46.37); 9th- Kyle Casella, weight throw (47-3 1/2); Matt Arbaugh, pole vault (13-3 1/2); Jake Cohen, pole vault (13-3 1/2); 10th - Andrew Lynch, shot put (44-8); 13th - Charlie Williams, 400m (51.12); 14th- Hao Guan, weight throw (41-1); Chris Wilson, pole vault (12-9 1/2); Kyle Schmid, 5,000m seeded (16:06.75); 4 x 400m relay (3:26.16), 4 x 800m relay (8:56.70); 16th - Andrew Lynch, weight throw (40-5 1/2); 18th - Gregg Cantwell, 1,000m (2:36.92), Mike Hazeltine, 3,000m (9:21.29); 19th - Tom Merring, 60m hurdles (8.93); John Fuja, 800m (2:06.42); 21st - Nick Degnars - shot put (39-10 3/4); 22nd - Dennis Spence, long jump (21-0); 23rd - Brandon Swartout, long jump (20-10 1/2); 25th - Doug Alpers, weight throw (35-1); Mike Roth, 1,000m (2:39.24); Frank Mancuso, 400m (52.31); 28th - Matt O’Brian, 3,000m (9:29.67); 29th- Craig Lebro, 3,000m (9:30.72); 30th - Doug Alpers, shot put (36-2); 37th - Steve Jackson, 500m (1:10.47); 42nd - Ryan McGlensey, 400m (55.79); 43rd - M.J. Rawls, 60m (7.51); 45th - Jordan Brown, 500m (1:11.82); 46th. Jeree Turlington, 60m (7.55);